Synopses & Reviews
"
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."and#151;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."and#151;Ethan Rarick, University of California, Berkeley
"Mark Paul and Joe Mathews have produced an indispensable guide to California's crisis of governanceand#151;and they have done so with humor, scholarship, fairness and storytelling verve. Every Californian should read this book."and#151;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."and#151;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.and#151;James Fallows,The Atlantic Monthly on Mathews' book, The People's Machine
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and#8220;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.and#8221;
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and#8220;A timely book with a lot of important things to say.and#8221;
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and#8220;Lucid analysis is spiked with wit and appealing turns of phrase that lift it above mere wonkery.and#8221;
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and#8220;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.and#8221;
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and#8220;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.and#8221;
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“An eminently readable treatise on our state's flailing government.” Harold Meyerson - American Prospect
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“A compelling book.” Aaron Sankin - SF Appeal
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“A smart, good read.” Michael Lewis - Vanity Fair Magazine
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and#8220;If you are interested in improving governmentand#8212;you should read the book . . . it reflects the spirit of innovation that was once part of the California story. This is what the campaign for governor should have been about.and#8221;
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“A concise and lucid analysis.” Bill Boyarsky - Truthdig
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and#8220;Objective and at times humorous (if thatand#8217;s possible) analysis of how California grew dysfunctional and what will make it functional again. This new release is getting solid reviews from critics and readers alike.and#8221;
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“A terrific book. . . . Nice work, guys. Calbuzz sez: check it out.” Royal Calkins - Monterey County-Herald
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“An important new book.” Calbuzz
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“This is a great book; everyone who wants to fix California needs to read it.” Harold Meyerson - Los Angeles Times
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and#8220;An eminently readable treatise on our state's flailing government.and#8221;
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and#8220;A compelling book.and#8221;
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and#8220;A smart, good read.and#8221;
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and#8220;A concise and lucid analysis.and#8221;
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and#8220;A terrific book. . . . Nice work, guys. Calbuzz sez: check it out.and#8221;
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and#8220;An important new book.and#8221;
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and#8220;This is a great book; everyone who wants to fix California needs to read it.and#8221;
Synopsis
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 doesnand#8217;t work.
About the Author
Joe Mathews is Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation as well as a fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion, Arizona State University. He is the author of The Peopleand#8217;s Machine: Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Rise of Blockbuster Democracy, a columnist for The Daily Beast, a freelance journalist, and associate editor of Zand#243;calo Public Square 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. Mathews and Paul are authors of the article "How to Fix a Broken State" in the March 2011 issue of Boom: A Journal of California.