SACRAMENTO -- In a state that swells with 35 million people, it has taken fewer than a million voters to put the job of Gov. Gray Davis in jeopardy. In a Legislature made up mostly of Democrats, it took only a handful of Republicans to put the state's budget in a monthlong stranglehold. As left as California may lean, a radical recall process and a constitutional requirement that two-thirds of lawmakers approve a budget gives a conservative minority influence that far outstrips its share of government. Framed by forces that shaped the state, the constitutional changes made during the last...