Ken Masugi

A readable and thought-provoking textbook designed to introduce students to California politics, the updated sixth edition of Democracy in California explains the Golden State’s governmental institutions and how their dynamics affects the lives of Californians. In doing so, the authors examine California history, political traditions, and political character. In addition to thorough coverage of California’s constitution and development, this book also explain each branch of government as well as local systems. Exploring the nature of public opinion, parties, and campaigns, the authors show the effects that the state’s diverse population has on all levels of politics and government.

A readable and thought-provoking textbook designed to introduce students to California politics, the updated sixth edition of Democracy in California explains the Golden State’s governmental institutions and how their dynamics affects the lives of Californians. In doing so, the authors examine California history, political traditions, and political character. In addition to thorough coverage of California’s constitution and development, this book also explain each branch of government as well as local systems. Exploring the nature of public opinion, parties, and campaigns, the authors show the effects that the state’s diverse population has on all levels of politics and government.

A readable and thought-provoking textbook, which clearly explains the politics and character of California’s governmental institutions and the dynamics affecting the lives of Californians. In addition to thorough coverage of California’s constitution and development, this book also examines each branch of government as well as local systems. Exploring the nature of public opinion, parties, and campaigns, the author seek to show the effects that the state’s diverse population has on all levels of politics and government.

Harry V. Jaffa (1918-2015), one of the profoundest political thinkers of his time, is known most prominently for his pathbreaking work on Abraham Lincoln. Jaffa, who taught for 50 years at the Claremont Colleges and was a Distinguished Fellow of the Claremont Institute, sought to produce a revolution in political philosophy by applying Strauss’s controversial thinking about natural right, Scripture, and human greatness to American politics. In these 10 essays, beginning in the 1980s, Jaffa rediscovered the moral and intellectual complexity of statesmanship, in particular that of Lincoln and the American founders. The essays reveal the profundity of the Declaration of Independence, in observations both theoretical (e.g., Aristotle and Aquinas) and practical (e.g., campus radicalism). Jaffa takes aim at the interpretations of America made by some of Leo Strauss’s students, chastising their imputation of radically liberal theorizing to the Declaration and their ignorance of the meaning of “all men are created equal.” The Declaration’s radicalism lies rather in its synthesis of ancient political philosophy and Scriptural authority on the good human life. Jaffa is particularly critical of Allan Bloom and, in previously unpublished essays, Irving Kristol and Harvey Mansfield for their errors about America. Jaffa’s essays recover political philosophy in its political and philosophic dimensions so that it can be a continuing guide for our politics today.

In Democracy in California, Brian P. Janiskee and Ken Masugi clearly explain the politics and character of California's governmental institutions and the dynamics affecting the lives of its citizens. The Second Edition is updated throughout and includes special discussions of the recent 2006 election, the 2005 special election, and the 2003 recall effort.

As the twentieth century closes, having withstood two world wars, a massive economic depression, and the rise of murderous, despotic regimes that based their existence on rationalistic theories, the legacy of the Enlightenment has come under new scrutiny. This new collection of essays from the Claremont Institute examines both the beneficial aspects of the Enlightenment as well as those considered detrimental. Including essays by political and social scientists such as Charles Kesler and Ernest van den Haag as well as scientists like Edward Teller and Sir Fred Hoyle, this book examines why in the postmodern world of the late twentieth century, the application of reason, rationalism, and the scientific method to explain natural, social, and economic phenomena takes place almost without a second thought. While these modes of looking at the world have provided considerable benefits, especially when related to the natural realm, the perpetual use of reason and rationalism to explain man's existence has nudged theology aside, allowing secular humanism to displace reliance on a divine Providence and often leaving mankind spiritually adrift. Co-published with the Claremont Institute.