California is this land of plenty that grew so fast that it's almost like a country in of itself. That growth happened at a particular place in time that really colored the governance, and is almost dysfunctional by design to allow everyone to function!

So you have the features of a big state, with some of the quirky weirdness of western governance (propositions, etc). I'm not an expert on California, but looking at it, it feels like a place that selected the best thing and worst thing about governance in Florida, New York, Idaho, New Jersey, Illinois and Virginia, and did all of them.