Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 260
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜
978-0-7425-3871-9 • Hardback • August 2007 • $111.00 • (£85.00)
978-0-7425-3872-6 • Paperback • August 2007 • $42.00 • (£35.00)
978-0-7425-7414-4 • eBook • August 2007 • $39.50 • (£30.00)
Mark Baldassare is president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California, where he holds the Arjay and Frances Fearing Miller Chair in Public Policy. He is the author of nine previous books, including: A California State of Mind: The Conflicted Voter in a Changing World (2002); California in the New Millennium: The Changing Social and Political Landscape (2000); and When Government Fails: The Orange Country Bankruptcy (California, 1998). Cheryl Katz is an independent public opinion researcher and California journalist. She has directed public opinion polling for California newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, the Sacramento Bee and the San Francisco Chronicle. She is the author of numerous newspaper articles and scholarly publications on public opinion in California.
Chapter 1 Introduction: A New Era in Direct Democracy
Chapter 2 Political Change Takes Root: The 2002 Elections
Chapter 3 The Voters Revolt: The Governor's Recall and 2003 Special Election
Chapter 4 The Year of Recovery: Bipartisan Cooperation and Populism in 2004
Chapter 5 The Year of Reform: Partisan Conflict and the 2005 Special Election
Chapter 6 The Year of Rebuilding: Reconstruction and Reconciliation in 2006
Chapter 7 Epilogue: Towards a Hybrid Democracy
No state practices more direct democracy than does California, and nobody analyzes California political forces and public opinion better than Baldassare....Summing Up: Highly Recommended, All levels.
— Choice Reviews, February 2008
The best, most comprehensive book to date on the public opinion behind California's recent tumultuous, zigzagging politics. It is also important for its reflections on 'hybrid democracy' in the Golden State.
— Bruce Cain, Heller Professor of Political Science, UC Berkeley
Baldassare and Katz's sharp account of the escalating use of the initiative, referendum, and recall is an important book on an absolutely crucial subject. It could fundamentally change the way most of us think about governance in twenty-first century America.
— Peter Schrag, author of California: America's High Stakes Experiment
Mark Baldassare and Cheryl Katz have written an interesting and successful book that captures the zeitgeist of California politics in the heat of populism....The authors pair a clear and concise writing style with fascinating survey results reported in a compelling and readable format, thus making the book an excellent pedagogical tool. Most importantly, the book illustrates a new form of governance, once that combines direct democracy and representative government to make public policy.
— .; Public Opinion Quarterly, May 2008
The book stands as a useful contribution to the history of an interesting period in California politics.
— October 2008; Political Science Quarterly, October 2008
In five action-hero years, Californians —led by their celebrity governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger—have fast-forwarded themselves into hybrid democracy. Through a reenergized use of the initiative, referendum, and recall, voters now stand as co-equals with elected officials in the creation of public policy. All Americans should be interested in this timely book. After all, it's their future as well.
— Kevin Starr, University of Southern California
·Baldassare, a noted scholar of California trends and attitudes, and Katz, a fellow public-opinion researcher and journalist, present an indispensable and highly readable account of this significant era in the state's political history.
·The research for this book is based on the most in-depth and comprehensive study of Californians' attitudes and opinions ever conducted: the Public Policy Institute of California Statewide Surveys. This dataset includes interviews with more than 150,000 adult residentssince 1998. Baldassare is the director of this survey.
·The book goes beyond merely describing the events surrounding the extraordinary California recall, by elucidating the forces that enabled it. Its identification of the four factors: populism, partisanship, special interests and voter distrust, as the motivation behind citizens' desire to reject the authority of elected representatives in favor of an increased role for themselves in state governance offers an understanding that will benefit policy-makers and political scholars alike.
·The book provides keen insights into the evolving system of governance in California and other states with direct democracy provisions, with important implications for the nation.