The Coming Age of Direct Democracy: California’s Recall and Beyond

This book examines the new, hybrid democracy that has been taking shape in California since the 2003 recall of Gov. Gray Davis and election of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Using the results of surveys with more than 150,000 Californians, the book reveals the public attitudes behind the move to supplant governance by elected representatives with an increased role for voters at the ballot box, and presents recommendations for ways to improve policymaking in a hybrid democracy.

Mark Baldassare is president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California, where he holds the Arjay and Frances Fearing Miller Chair in Public Policy. He is the author of nine previous books, including: A California State of Mind: The Conflicted Voter in a Changing World (2002); California in the New Millennium: The Changing Social and Political Landscape (2000); and When Government Fails: The Orange Country Bankruptcy (California, 1998). Cheryl Katz is an independent public opinion researcher and California journalist. She has directed public opinion polling for California newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, the Sacramento Bee and the San Francisco Chronicle. She is the author of numerous newspaper articles and scholarly publications on public opinion in California.