Proposition 63: The California English Language Amendment

This article discusses events leading up to and following the passage of Proposition 63, a state constitutional amendment which declared English the official language of California in the 1986 midterm election. Proposition 63 was extremely popular, passing by a margin of 73 per cent to 27 per cent. This article discusses the background, context, and support for Proposition 63 in an attempt to account for this popularity. The symbolic nature of Proposition 63 is explored, and the argument made that it is being used by the national organization of ‘US English’ as part of a political agenda to fight the use of languages other than English in the public sector. A brief outline of legislation which preceded Proposition 63 is presented, and arguments of both proponents and opponents are examined. The results of a questionnaire on Proposition 63 are presented, as well as an analysis of voting behavior on the measure taken from two sources of data: the Southern California Social Survey conducted by UCLA, and the Field Poll of August 1986. Pre-election arguments, voting behavior on propositions, ideological predispositions, and the notion of ‘symbolic racism’ are dicussed as possible determinants of the vote.