Democracy in California - 4th Edition by Brian P Janiskee & Ken Masugi (Paperback)

About the Book

In Democracy in California, Janiskee and Masugi clearly explain the politics and character of California's governmental institutions and the dynamics affecting the lives of its citizens. The fourth edition is updated throughout and includes special discussions of the 2014 elec...

Book Synopsis

In Democracy in California, Janiskee and Masugi clearly explain the politics and character of California's governmental institutions and the dynamics affecting the lives of its citizens. The fourth edition is updated throughout and includes special discussions of the 2014 election and recent events.

Review Quotes

In their succinct, highly-readable, and now updated guide to California politics, Janiskee and Masugi provide a historical overview and contemporary account of the major constitutional features, governmental arrangements, fiscal practices, and diverse social characteristics of the Golden State. Aiming high, they consciously model their Democracy in California on Tocqueville's Democracy in America. They offer thoughtful meditations on Tocqueville's insights into the principles, problems, and prospects of democratic life. Their aim is uncannily accurate. This is an indispensable book for anyone wishing to understand and assess the successes and failures of California politics and government.


Janiskee and Masugi have done it again... producing a cogent analysis of California politics that is both timely and rooted in historical context. With tight prose and thorough research, it shows how Progressivism continues to shape state politics, with results that are often far from progressive. This book is a wonderful brief introduction to the not-always-golden politics of the Golden State.

About the Author

Brian P. Janiskee received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University and is professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at California State University, San Bernardino, where he is also a faculty member in the national security studies program. He has published several articles and books on such topics as special districts, crime policy, presidential elections, American colonial local government, and national security.

Ken Masugi received his Ph.D. from the New School for Social Research and teaches for Johns Hopkins University's Center for Advanced Studies in American Government in Washington, DC. He is editor of Interpreting Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" (described in the American Political Science Review as representing a "revolution in Tocqueville scholarship") and coeditor of four other books on modern and American political thought. A Senior Fellow of the Claremont Institute, Masugi is currently completing a monograph on Democracy in America.