Research

The Press and Foreign Policy

Bernard C. Cohen
1963

Most of the important questions concerning the impact of the press on how the public views political issues were first raised in this classic of contemporary political science including what journalists consider news and how they establish and enforce professional norms. Cohen's theory explaining the pattern of news coverage is the most far-reaching and persuasive in the literature.

Watching Politicians: Essays on Participant Observation

Richard F. Fenno, Jr.
1990

In this brilliant case study, Fenno, America's leading practitioner of participant observation, reflects on how the press and political scientists reacted when George Bush chose Dan Quayle to be his vice president–and on his personal dilemma as a scholar with a wealth of information about a little known, much criticized nominee. Fenno draws on his unique experience to explain the enduring ethical, tactical, and methodological problems involved in studying politicians.

Congressmen in Committees

Richard F. Fenno, Jr.
1973

In this classic study, America's leading student of Congress shows how the different organizational environments of three congressional committees affect the behavior of members and shapes legislative outcomes.

Golden Gate Metropolis: Perspectives on Bay Area History

Charles Wollenberg
1985

"Here at last in a single volume is the interwoven story of the San Francisco Bay region . . . authoritative, readable, compact, the first wide-angle portrait of a vast and vigorous urban substate."

—Richard Reinhardt, The California Historical Society

Prison Population and Criminal Justice Policy in California

Franklin E. Zimring
Gordon Hawkin
1992

In the late eighties, a series of blue-ribbon studies urged a massive prison-building program to accommodate huge projected increases in the state prison population. Zimring and Hawkins show that the booming prison population reflects a change in policy rather than an increase in crime and suggest innovative ways to reduce the prison population.

Racial and Ethnic Politics in California, Vol. Two

Michael B. Preston
Bruce E. Cain
Sandra Bass
1991

When we published Volume One of Racial and Ethnic Politics in California in 1991, census experts estimated the state’s population would pass 30 million by the year 2000. By current estimates, the population now, two years before the millennium, is 31.6 million. As with so many things about California, the most striking aspect of the demographic shifts underway here is their sheer magnitude. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, California’s population will grow by nearly 18 million people by 2025–that is the equivalent of taking everyone currently living in the state of New York and moving...

The New American Political (Dis)Order

Robert A. Dahl
Austin Ranney
Richard M. Abrams
David W. Brady
Patrick Chamorel
Jack Citrin
1994

Robert A. Dahl, America's foremost political theorist analyses the current dysfunction in political decision making and the collapse of communications between citizens and their leaders. Five scholars from Berkeley and Stanford respond.

Common Interest Communities: Private Governments and the Public Interest

Stephen E. Barton
Carol J. Silverman
1994

More than 35 million Americans live under private governments with broad powers. As residents of condominiums, cooperatives, and planned communities, they are required to join associations with sweeping control over their daily lives. Here, for the first time, experts examine these private governments and describe the bitter conflicts spawned by their strict regulations and forced obligations. Common interest communities manage property, enforce life-styles, provide services, and assess members to finance common expenses. This fascinating book is a must read for planners, property...

Economic Earthquakes: Converting Defense Cuts to Economic Opportunities

Patrick Lloyd Hatcher
1994

In the 90s, California's economy bounced back after a decade of sharp cuts in defense spending. In three excellent case studies, Hatcher explains how out-moded military bases were converted into community productive assets.

California's Practical Period: Cultural Context of the Emerging University, 1850's-1870's

Gunther Barth
1994

Barth examines higher education in nineteenth-century California, drawing connections between the 1855 College of California (and its successor, the 1868 University of California) and the elements of design that evolved out of the early cemetery and park traditions. He stresses the character of the men of this "practical period," particularly their political, economic, and intellectual behavior. Acutely aware of the complex relationship between land and ideas, and dreams and practicality, Barth captures the ironies of their juxtaposition in early California.