Great concept. Wish I had time to read it... > Mathews and Paul then furnish a uniquely California fix: innovative solutions > that would 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 Crackup > offers something new: a genuinely democratic operating system for the state. r
Begin forwarded message: > From: New America Foundation <[email protected]> > Date: September 10, 2010 1:00:51 PM PDT > To: [email protected] > Subject: New America's Books: California Crackup > Reply-To: [email protected] > > > > ESSENTIAL READING > California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It > By Joe Mathews, Irvine Senior Fellow & Mark Paul, Senior Scholar > > > > > PURCHASE THE BOOK > > > > California is mired in perpetual budget crisis and its government is > paralyzed by partisan gridlock. Groups across the political spectrum are > pushing reforms, with some even calling for a constitutional convention. > Frustrated Californians know something is wrong, but not what's broken and > how it can be fixed. > > In their highly acclaimed new book, California Crackup: How Reform Broke the > Golden State and How We Can Fix It, Joe Mathews and Mark Paul of the New > America Foundation expose the origins of California's current political and > fiscal problems-from the ugly 1879 constitutional convention to Hiram > Johnson's Progressive reforms to the Prop 13 tax revolt and its legacy of > supermajority requirements and voter initiatives. Mathews and Paul then > furnish a uniquely California fix: innovative solutions that would 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 Crackup offers something new: a > genuinely democratic operating system for the state. > > > VIDEO > > > Authors Joe Mathews and Mark Paul discuss California Crackup in this short > clip. > > > PRAISE FOR CALIFORNIA CRACKUP > > "In California Crackup, Mathews and Paul provide the best explanation we've > yet had of the scope and sources of the state's governmental > dysfunctionality. More important, they also provide the most far-reaching and > thoughtful proposals for reinventing California's government - so > far-reaching and thoughtful, in fact, that their recommendations should be > considered in every capital where small-d democrats find themselves banging > their heads against the wall in sheer frustration." - Harold Meyerson, The > American Prospect > > "Neither Mr. Brown or Ms. Whitman, as they attempt to blaze a trail to the > governor's mansion, have suggested anything as sweeping as the proposals in > California Crackup." - Troy Senik, Wall Street Journal > > "One of the most cogent, freshest, and incisive diagnoses of what ails > California." - Matt Miller, Left, Right, and Center > > "They've written a terrific book. Cataloging the multiple, inter-locking > political elements that caused the collapse of governance in California, the > two veteran political writers draw these pieces together into a lucid > framework that offers not only a clear diagnosis, but also a serious > prescription for what ails the not-so-Golden State. The clarity of their > writing and the cogency of their argument put to shame the content of the > current campaign for governor." - Jerry Roberts & Phil Trounstine, Calbuzz > > "California Crackup is brilliant. It cuts through the familiar tangle of > diagnoses and quick-fix solutions to provide a comprehensive and persuasive > analysis of California's dysfunctional governmental system. Paul and Mathews > have coolly laid out a complicated story, made it readable, sometimes even > comedic. It is the best discussion of the issue I've seen in over three > decades." - Peter Schrag, author of Paradise Lost: California's Experience, > America's Future > > "It is the best thing I have read on the subject, period, and it should be > required reading for every voter in this state. The book is a towering > achievement: systematic, learned, and yet lucid, accessible, and highly > readable." - Russell Hancock, Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network > > "The book is brisk, well-argued, at times darkly funny - and deserves an > audience far broader than the policy wonks who will be drawn to it." - Scott > Timberg, The Misread City > > "When it comes to the Golden State's ills, the depth of our despair is > matched only by the dysfunction of our system.... Now Joe Mathews...and Mark > Paul... have charted the disastrous reform efforts that left us with a polity > 'both unintended and unworkable.'...Their lucid analysis is spiked with wit > and appealing turns of phrase... that lift it above mere wonkery." - Chris > Smith, San Francisco Magazine > > "California is in serious trouble, and it's precisely because the state keeps > trying to fix itself. Propositions and ballot initiatives, which are supposed > to be democratic, instead end up at odds with each other and prove to be > self-defeating.... A timely book with a lot of important things to say." - > Tasnim Shamma, Newsweek > > "If you've grown weary of California's annual budget stalemates and > furloughs, if you're frustrated by the Legislature, if you feel California is > broken, then California Crackup should be required reading." - Byron > Williams, Contra Costa Times > > UPCOMING SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS > > Vroman's Bookstore > Pasadena, CA > Wednesday, September 15 > > San Diego Convention Center > San Diego, CA > Thursday, September 16 > > California State University, Fullerton > Fullerton, CA > Thursday, September 16 > > University of California, Berkeley > Berkeley, CA > Monday, September 20 > > UC Center Sacramento > Sacramento, CA > Tuesday, September 21 > > Half Moon Bay Brewing Co > Half Moon Bay, CA > Thursday, September 30 > > Museum of Natural History > Santa Barbara, CA > Tuesday, October 5 > > The Green Arcade > San Francisco, CA > Thursday, October 7 > > Warwick's Books > La Jolla, CA > Thursday, October 21 > > www.NewAmerica.net > > Forward email > > This email was sent to [email protected] by > [email protected]. > Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | > Privacy Policy. > Email Marketing by > > New America Foundation | 1899 L Street, NW | Suite 400 | Washington | DC | > 20036 > -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
