States / California
California
One in six people in California who took the quiz scored libertarian, about the same as the country. One in 93 voted that way. Here is what the count says about California, what the state has changed, and who is doing the work.
How California scores
34.5 of 100, rank 41 of 50. Five parts, each turned into a 0 to 100 mark and weighted as shown. The method page has the formulas.
Wins on the ledger, 2 for California, are listed below and left out of the score, because the ledger records what we have checked, not everything that happened.
Where California lands
Quiz takers in the state against quiz takers everywhere, by type. The bar is the state; the line is the country.
United States, same window. These are quiz takers, not a sample of residents. The current quiz version cannot be shown by state until ZIP capture, which stopped in January 2026, is restored.
How free is California
Eight measures, each from its publisher, each with the year it was measured.
What California changed
Every entry is a real change in what the government forbids or requires, one an ordinary person could feel the next day, with sources. Partial wins say so.
- California legalizes mid-rise apartments near transit, preempting local single-family-only zoningHousing, October 2025Partial winState overrides local rule
SB 79 legalizes multi-story multi-family housing within a half-mile of major transit stations across California's largest counties, overriding the single-family-only zoning that covers most of that land.
Why this is a partial win
This arrived as a state law overriding local zoning. Libertarians divide on that: some hold that a state has no business dictating what towns may forbid. The ledger records it because the person coerced was the owner who could not build, and the day after signing that owner could. The federalism question is real and is not the one the ledger measures. SB 79 also carries affordability set-asides and labor standards on some projects, regulatory strings in the same enactment.
- California exempts most urban infill housing from CEQA environmental reviewHousing, June 2025
A pair of budget trailer bills creates a clean CEQA exemption for urban infill housing up to 20 acres and 85 feet, with a 30-day deadline for agency action — the most consequential CEQA reform in decades.
Who is doing the work in California
Advocates for Self-Government, which publishes this site, works in every state. Other national groups take cases and run programs everywhere. Say who you are and what you care about to sort the whole directory.
Count California
The state's count grows one booth and one classroom at a time. Three ways to add to it.