As a resident of California I unfortunately know this all too well!
But overall I feel that majorities have a lot of things stacked in their favour anyway, not least money which in our political system is important, so believe that the electoral college is a useful counterweight to that.
I agree that not having a two party system would do away with a lot of the need for it but a) don't see that it would materially solve some of the issues you raise since in coalition governments small parties have outsize influence compared to their number of their voters b) I see no likelihood of the two party system going away.
I too live in California. But i am a transplant awaiting citizenship.
I cant agree with the second highlighted comment. California is rich and well able to run itself but there are tonnes of issues in many of the counties and districts.
So much is made of how well California is doing by most of the rest of the country but that really is only true in parts. With the exception of the bay area (San Fran, San Jose, silicon valley etc...) where there is a tonne of wealth the rest of the state is sparse with its distribution of jobs and wealth. But even then buying property and getting your kids into schools can be hassle oh and working close to home forget about it.
Only a small part of San Diego and its counties is well off and its too hard to buy houses in most of the area which forces people north to Orange county or its fringes. Same can be said about LA its move inland to the east or further south.
Most will sit on a freeway for an hour or two at least just to get to work and oh yeah the roads they are sitting on badly need work. Infrastructure costs they reckon will cost close to a billion if not more for this state.
The public transport system is awful statewide with the exception of one area the as mentioned above.
Yet more and more people move west in the hope of something better. Its not sustainable.
With the rate of fires increasing and the underfunded fire services its only a matter of time before we have a big fire.
Speaking of fires the companies who graciously charge us for the water keep increasing the prices blaming droughts and well dry land and the need to water. Even though the increase go up by double each year. Which i do accept they need to charge me a little more seen as water is scarce.
I guess my point is every city and every state has its issues not just the minority in the rural areas. Spending by companies and by governments will always favor big areas but if they continue to grow it will cause bigger issues.
On the third highlighted portion. That's not always a bad thing. It depends on who the leading party get into bed with and then sometimes its a sham (like the UK right now) but other times it can be good because the smaller party gets key positions which breaks up the leading party's control.
