California Crackup

by Mathews, Joe

• ISBN13: 9780520266568
• ISBN10: 0520266560
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-08-04
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

Is California beyond repair? A sizable number of Golden State citizens have concluded that it is. Incessant budget crises plus a government paralyzed by partisan gridlock have led to demands for reform, even a constitutional convention. But what, exactly, is wrong and how can we fix it? InCalifornia Crackup, Joe Mathews and Mark Paul provide clear and informed answers. Their fast-paced and often humorous narrative deftly exposes the constitutional origins of our current political and economic problems--from the ugly 1879 constitutional convention to Hiram Johnson's Progressive reforms to the Proposition 13 property tax revolt and its legacy of voter initiatives. Mathews and Paul then furnish a uniquely California fix: innovative solutions that allow Californians to debate their choices, settle on the best ones, hold elected officials accountable for results, and choose anew if something doesn't work. Concise, lively, and provocative,California Crackupoffers something new: a genuinely democratic operating system for the state.

Author Biography

Joe Mathews is Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation. He is the author of The People's Machine: Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Rise of Blockbuster Democracy, a columnist for The Daily Beast, and a freelance journalist.
Mark Paul is senior scholar and deputy director of the California program at the New America Foundation. He was formerly deputy treasurer of California and deputy editorial page editor of the Sacramento Bee.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. ix
Prologue. Out of Luck	p. 1
Building and Breaking California
Crisis without Exit	p. 7
History and the Constitution	p. 16
Empowering and Shackling Sacramento	p. 35
From Teachers to Janitors: Direct Democracy Demotes the Legislature	p. 58
The California Fix
Budgeting without Shackles	p. 79
The Architecture of Political Frustration	p. 105
Remaking Elections and the Legislature	p. 126
Government from the Bottom Up	p. 151
A More Direct Democracy	p. 166
Epilogue. Good Rules to Match Its Mountains	p. 185
Notes	p. 193
Acknowledgments	p. 211
Index	p. 217
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