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History of recall gives fuel to both sides Also, the guidelines for recalls in California are vague, making it hard to say whether the procedure is being misused. The recall language is not specific about when it can be exercised. The state constitution already had an impeachment provision for ``misconduct in office.'' But the California recall provision in the constitution, overwhelmingly approved by voters in 1911, flatly states that ``sufficiency of reason is not reviewable.'' ``It's kind of the American equivalent of the vote of no confidence that parliamentary systems have,'' said Cain. ``The thrust of it, I think, is that people who voted for you last time suddenly feeling betrayed.'' The simplicity of the recall language is a product of the era in which it was passed and the man who championed it. California was still the Wild West in 1911, a sprawling and sparsely populated frontier rife with political corruption from powerful railroad and business interests. The Progressive movement took aim at those influential institutions, in California and across the nation. Several major reforms took place during the early 20th century, including a ban on corporations giving campaign contributions directly to politicians, and the direct election of U.S. senators, who had previously been appointed. Hiram Johnson made his name during a prominent San Francisco corruption trial that targeted the city's chief political boss and some top business leaders. He became governor in 1910, running against the influence of the Southern Pacific Railroad on state politics. The first recall law in the country was a municipal measure enacted in Los Angeles in 1903 for local officials. In his first inaugural address in January 1911, Johnson called for a constitutional amendment allowing the statewide use of the recall, as well as the referendum and initiative. He criticized those who doubted the ability of voters to properly handle the new powers.
``Too often he viewed his world as a simple contest between a corrupt few and the decent majority,'' historian Richard Coke Lower wrote in his 1993 book, ``A Bloc of One: The Political Career of Hiram W. Johnson.''
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