California Politics and Government: A Practical Approach - Softcover

Gerston, Larry N.; Christensen, Terry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0495006785 ISBN 13: 9780495006787

Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing, 2006

Synopsis

CALIFORNIA POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT is a brief "nuts and bolts" book with contemporary examples that offer students a real life view of politics while illustrating the complex principles at work in California Government. In addition to introducing California's complex political system to students, major issues as economics, education, and immigration are discussed as along with their impact on California politics. Coverage of interests groups, campaigns and state/federal relations is particularly notable. Furthermore, the text integrates public policy coverage throughout the text, instead of consigning it to individual chapters-making connections and focusing students on the real impacts and practical effects of legislation and other government activities on their lives.

About this title

About the Author

Larry N. Gerston, professor emeritus of political science at San Jose State University, interacts with the political process as both an author and an observer. As an author, he has written eleven academic books in addition to CALIFORNIA POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT: A PRACTICAL APPROACH, including MAKING PUBLIC POLICY: FROM CONFLICT TO RESOLUTION (1983), POLITICS IN THE GOLDEN STATE (with Terry Christensen, 1984), THE DEREGULATED SOCIETY (with Cynthia Fraleigh and Robert Schwab, 1988), AMERICAN GOVERNMENT: POLITICS, PROCESS AND POLICIES (1993), PUBLIC POLICY: PROCESS AND PRINCIPLES (1987), PUBLIC POLICYMAKING IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY: A GUIDE TO CIVIC ENGAGEMENT (2002), RECALL! CALIFORNIA'S POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE (with Terry Christensen, 2004), AMERICAN FEDERALISM: A CONCISE INTRODUCTION (2007), CONFRONTING REALITY: TEN ISSUES THREATENING TO IMPLODE AMERICAN SOCIETY AND HOW WE CAN FIX IT (2009), NOT SO GOLDEN AFTER ALL: THE RISE AND FALL OF CALIFORNIA (2012), and REVIVING CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT: POLICIES TO RENEW NATIONAL COMMUNITY (2015). Gerston serves as the political analyst for NBC11, a San Francisco Bay Area television station, where he appears on a regular basis. He has written more than a 125 op-ed pieces for newspapers throughout the nation and speaks often on issues such as civic engagement and political empowerment.

Review

"What impresses me most, as both a teacher and practitioner of government, is how well the authors' have achieved their goal of creating an excellent "practical" and useable guide for students to understand how California State and Local Government works and why this knowledge is important to them. It briefly but clearly explains what California State and Local Government is, how it works, how it affects us, and how we can affect it in order to achieve results."

"I really like the integration of the direct democracy ballot propositions into the witten material of each chapter. I have never seen it done so systematically and well."

"This book is concise enough to be assigned to my American Government students in conjunction with a complete American Government text and comprehensive enough to cover main ideas and issues related to California government and politics."

About this edition

• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0495006785
• ISBN 13: 9780495006787
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 150