California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It [Paperback]

Joe Mathews (Author), Mark Paul (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0520266560 | ISBN-13: 978-0520266568 | Edition: 1

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? In California 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 and furnishes 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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Neither [Jerry] Brown or [Meg] 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 in the Wall Street Journal

"A terrific book...that offers not only a clear diagnosis, but also a serious prescription... The clarity of their writing and the cogency of their argument put to shame the current campaign for governor."

--Calbuzz

"A compelling book." -- Michael Lewis in Vanity Fair.

"One of the most cogent, freshest, and incisive diagnosis of what ails California and also has some really outside-of-the-box ideas [for] how California fixes its political problems." --Matt Miller on Left, Right, and Center.

"Theirs are certainly the best ideas for rebuilding California's government that the state has seen since -- well, probably ever." --Harold Meyerson in The American Prospect

"Both [California gubernatorial] candidates may want to read the book's diagnosis of the potentially terminal problems that one of them is certain to inherit."--Wall Street Journal

"A timely book with a lot of important things to say."--Newsweek

"Lucid analysis is spiked with wit and appealing turns of phrase that lift it above mere wonkery."--San Francisco Magazine

"Two of the shrewdest California-ologists now practicing . . . Mathews and Paul provide the best explanation we've yet had of the scope and sources of the state's governmental dysfunctionality."--American Prospect

"The authors do a great job of explaining what has been done to try to control the [budget] beast and how it became a depressing example of the law of unintended consequences."--Monterey County-Herald

From the Inside Flap

"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 California: America's High-Stakes Experiment

"I know of no other work that combines so succinctly and enjoyably a historical summary of California's existing problems with such a sweeping and provocative program of reform."--Ethan Rarick, University of California, Berkeley

"Mark Paul and Joe Mathews have produced an indispensable guide to California's crisis of governance--and they have done so with humor, scholarship, fairness and storytelling verve. Every Californian should read this book."--Steve Coll, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ghost Wars

"Mark Paul... has a talent for presenting California Big Think stuff in an easily accessible and always readable way...[offering] clear and creative insights on the subject of California's collapse."--CalBuzz

"Joe Mathews has done an artful, fascinating, and convincing job of connecting the California of today's Schwarzenegger era to the long history that made his rise possible.--James Fallows,The Atlantic Monthly on Mathews' book, The People's Machine

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (August 4, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520266560
• ISBN-13: 978-0520266568
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Government     > State & Local Government

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful Analysis of California's Problems, July 28, 2010

By 

Martin Schwartz (Chatsworth, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (Paperback)

This is a terrific book for anyone, Democrat, Republican or otherwise, who is interested in fixing California's dysfunctional political system. The authors take a non-partisan approach to analyzing how we got to where we are today and what needs to be done to correct matters. This is a must read!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating background & solutions - how do we get there?, November 1, 2010

By 

Joyce Bender - See all my reviews

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This review is from: California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (Paperback)

California Crackup is the first non-fiction work since Seabiscuit to successfully lure me away from my evening novel. It's a real-life mystery thriller that unravels the twisted skein of California's political mess in clear, fast-paced writing. Even better, the mystery has a believable solution - fixes presented are ideas proven to work in other places instead of misty, untried fantasies. It's illuminating reading not just for Californians, but for everyone who wants more responsive, effective democracy. Like sheep to the slaughter, other states are blithely heading down the same slippery slope with no clue what's in store. Neither the root causes or the solutions are obvious. One problem: there's not even the briefest map to help readers have a part in turning this plan into reality - a puzzling deficiency given the voluminous footnotes on everything else.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You know it's broken, don't you?, September 13, 2010

By 

Jerry Schwarz "jerry the skeptic" (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (Paperback)

A few months ago, although it seems like years, I was standing on corners soliciting signatures on a petition to have an initiative to call a California constitutional convention. My catch phrase was "help fix California's government". When people walked past (as most did of course) I would say "you know it's broken" Only one person ever said no it isn't, but many laughed because what I said was so obvious.

My explanation of what was broken was similar to the authors'. I described it as "a vicious cycle". The authors describe this as follows, "The public distrusts the legislature and their elected officials. So voters, preferring to trust themselves, make major policy decisions via ballot initiative. These decisions because of the requirement that initiatives not be changed by legislators alone, further tie the hands of lawmakers. The frustrated lawmakers find it difficult to solve pressing problems, further fueling the public frustration that produces more initiatives and more hand-tying. This vicious cycle produces anger, more budgeting at the ballot box and poor governance."

The first part of the book contains a description of how California government reached its present condition. Especially valuable is the discussion of a number of initiatives that have contributed to creating California's dysfunction. Prop 13 and prop 98 are probably the best known, but if you care about California you also should know about prop 4 (the Gann initiative), prop 4(terrm limits), prop 63 (mental health) and many others discussed in this book.

I found the description of the initiative that created the California lottery particularly instructive. Not because the initiative had a significant impact but because it perfectly encapsulates what is wrong with the process. Firstly it was a purely commercial activity. The original sponsor of the initiative was a company whose business is to collect signatures, financial backing came from a company that administers state lotteries. Both were working for themselves, not for California. Secondly, the result was to create a state lottery that "effectively -- and forever -- stripped state law makers of the power to make policy choices about how to manage the lottery, use the funds it generates, or adjust to changes in the market ..."

In the second part of the book the authors present details of what a revised constitution that fixed California's government might look like. The organizing idea, which I haven't seen before, is that in California the legislative authority resides in a combination of the elected legislature and direct democracy. Currently they don't work well together (the vicious cycle) but reform can't get rid of either. Reform must combine them into a consistent whole in which they work together. The authors present in detail what this might look like. For example, they propose a unicameral legislature based on a form of proportional representation. And they propose one of my favorite ideas, electing state wide officiers via instant runoff voting. If you want to see all the details of their proposals you'll have to get the book.

There is one significant issue that the authors don't address satisfactorily. Namely, how can we ever get a constitutional revision along these lines? They suggest that ultimately the legislature will recognize that a revision is needed and create either a revision commission or a constitutional convention. Personally I don't think this is realistic. But I don't blame the authors. They have done their job. They've presented a detailed plan that if enacted would have a good chance of fixing California government. The future of California may depend on some influential political actors picking up the ideas in this book.