ABSTRACT
California has always been considered somewhat different from the rest of the nation. It is, as Theodore Roosevelt pointed out, “west of the West.” Yet California has emerged as a dominant trendsetter, establishing models and approaches that are emulated throughout the nation. California may be west of the traditional centers of power, but its size and influence have surpassed those of all other states. Stretching 825 miles from Crescent City to San Diego and 215 miles from Monterey to Mono Lake, California comprises 164,000 square miles and 36.5 million people12.1 percent of the total U.S. population.1
