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State and Local Government/ California Government, Politics, and Public Policy

Making Government Work: California Cases in Policy, Politics, and Public Management
Barry Keene, ed., 2000, 210 pages, $21.95, ISBN 0-87772-396-6, Book #3966

Shaping public policy in a huge, diverse state like California is seldom easy. Having secured institutional authority, whether by election or appointment, those who hold political power quickly find they can rarely wield it without restraint. There are rival powerholders to be won over, opposing arguments to be refuted, nagging doubts to be allayed, wavering allies to be reassured.

Making Government Work is designed to help people reach their public policy goals by thinking and acting politically. We are convinced that the political skills essential to making good public policy can be taught. The cases presented here are like political fables. They are stories with a lesson. And they can help people acquire the skills and techniques that are essential to making government work.

This book is the result of a unique collaboration between the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC-Berkeley and the Center for California State Studies at California State University, Sacramento. All the cases in this second edition are new.

IGS Materials on Teaching with Cases (zipped WordPerfect 9 file, or right-click and use "Save Link as..." to save a plain Wordperfect file to your computer)

Racial and Ethnic Politics in California, Volume Two Michael B. Preston, Bruce E. Cain, and Sandra Bass, eds., 1997, 330pp, $24.95, ISBN 0-87772-328-1, book #3281 California's burgeoning minorities are remaking politics in the nation's largest and most ethnically diverse state. This ground-breaking book, the leading text in the field, examines the changes and their political impact. Few texts address these difficult questions, and none does it as well as this. Authors include Bruce Cain, Franklin Gilliam, Don Nakanishi, Harry Pachon, Michael Preston, Jaime Regalado, Fernando Guerra, Sandra Bass, Leland Saito, and Raphael Sonnenshein writing about Latino politics and empowerment, the growing Asian vote, race and crime, affirmative action, transnational political identity, immigration, and political incorporation.

This series--which includes companion volumes on the 1990 and 1994 races--provides an authoritative guide to California politics. Following the past three California governor's races, IGS has assembled the key players to exhaustively review and critique their, and their opponents', campaign strategy and tactics. In two days of amazingly candid discussions, they examine every aspect of the race. The transcript of those discussions, combined with commentary and analysis by the state's leading political journalists, scholars, and party operatives, provides unique insights and an extraordinary look behind the scenes of a major political campaign.

"California Votes is a tribute to democracy."--Pete Wilson, Former Governor of California

"New insight into the reasoning behind strategic decisions from the winners and losers."-- The Political Hotline

"A unique and path-breaking account of the politics of California, with lessons of importance for this state and other large states and, indeed, for national campaigns."--Eugene C. Lee, Professor Emeritus, UC Berkeley, Director of IGS, 1968-88

"Politics as seen by "the innermost of California's political insiders."--Bill Stall, Los Angeles Times

California Votes--The 1994 Governor's Race: An Inside Look at the Candidates and Their Campaigns by the People Who Managed Them,
Gerald C. Lubenow, ed., 1995, 296pp, ISBN 0-87772-367-2, $19.95

California Votes--The 1990 Governor's Race: An Inside Look at the Candidates and Their Campaigns by the People Who Managed Them,
Gerald C. Lubenow, ed., 1991, 240pp, ISBN 0-87772-357-5, $15.95

Governing California: Politics, Government, and Public Policy in the Golden State Gerald C. Lubenow and Bruce E. Cain, eds., 1997, 372pp, $19.95, ISBN 0-87772-376-1 Written by the state's leading scholars and most experienced journalists, Governing California has become a popular text for courses in American politics and state and local government. Authoritative and accessible, its crisply written narratives focus on the people and processes that shape politics and public policy. Each chapter includes historical background, current context, and in-depth analysis. Contributors include John Jacobs, political editor of the Sacramento Bee, on the governor's office; Revan Tranter, former head of the Association of Bay Area Governments on state and local government; former IGS Director Eugene Lee on the initiative process; Morgan Kousser of Cal Tech on redistricting; Susan Rasky of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism on how the press covers politics; Joseph McNamara of the Hoover Institution on criminal justice; UC Berkeley political scientist Jack Citrin on immigration; Eugene Smolensky, former dean of Berkeley's Graduate School of Public Policy, on welfare; and much more.

When Governor Wilson and the California legislature created a Constitutional Revision Commission, they assembled the state's leading scholars to investigate how the structure of the constitution affects state and local government. Their proposals, published here, call for far-reaching and innovative reform. This intriguing combination of ideas from across the political spectrum establishes a benchmark for all future debate about California governance.

The Speaker's Electoral Connection: Willie Brown and the California Assembly, Richard A. Clucas, 1994, 168pp, ISBN 0-87772-361-3, $12.95 "Legislative leaders now have as one of their principal jobs that of raising funds for their party's legislative candidates. None has mastered the art of campaign finance like Willie Brown of California, the subject of Richard A. Clucas's groundbreaking contribution to our knowledge of legislative leadership. Theoretically based, methodically analyzed, and cogently argued, the study provides solid evidence for where the speaker's money goes and what it buys." -- Alan Rosenthal, Professor of Public Policy, Rutgers University

Almost overnight, Prop. 13 altered California's system of school funding and caused massive budgetary uncertainty. Relying on extensive interviews and analysis, Curry recounts how the organizational structure and management style of three districts shaped their response.

California Public Management Casebook Barry Keene, ed., 1999, 245pp, $21.95, ISBN 0-87772-391-5, Book #3915 Our hopes for a better world depend on attracting to government leaders who not only have good intentions, but the wisdom to see the difference between god intentions and good public policy and the political skills to see that the best of their intentions become law. These cases will help students to understand and appreciate the difficult realities of public service.--Former State Senator Barry Keene

California's 1994 "Three Strikes and You're Out" law is one of the most important--and controversial--pieces of crime control legislation in American history. It has resulted in nine times as many mandatory prison sentences as the other 25 three strikes state as and the federal government combined. This startling new study suggests it has had little if any affect on the crime rate.

Prison Population and Criminal Justice Policy in California Franklin E. Zimring and Gordon Hawkins, 1992, 72pp, ISBN 0-87772-332-X, $9.95 Over the past decade, a series of blue ribbon studies have projected major increases in state prison population and urged a massive prison-building program. Zimring and Hawkins show that the prison population expansion reflects a change in policy rather than an increase in crime or California's population, and they suggest innovative ways to reduce the prison population.