State of the Union 2014
Session #2: California
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This post describes the second session of the Stanford University State of the Union 2014 course, offered in autumn 2014. Details here.
Stanford’s State of the Union 2014 continues with a discussion of California politics.
Our distinguished guests on Sept. 30 are:
Bruce Cain
Bruce E. Cain is a Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and Director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West. He has written extensively on elections, legislative representation, California politics, redistricting, and political regulation. In addition to his academic work, Cain frequently is quoted in national and international media, and regularly appears as a political expert for KGO-TV in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is currently working on a book about political reform in the US.
Carla Marinucci
Carla Marinucci is senior political writer for The San Francisco Chronicle, where she has covered national and state politics for the paper since 1996 and writes the Spin Cycle politics blog. She is a featured political analyst on KQED’s “This Week in Northern California” and KTVU (Fox News) “Mornings on Two,” and has been a guest analyst on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and Al Jazeera, as well as “Oprah.” She is also a regular analyst for the BBC, Irish Newstalk Radio, and RTE Morning Ireland, the Australian Broadcasting Company, National Public Radio, KPPC in Pasadena, KCRW’s “To the Point” and “Which Way L.A.” with Warren Olney.
Darrell Steinberg
Senator Darrell Steinberg, California Senate President pro Tempore, leads the majority party in the California State Senate. Elected in 2006, Steinberg became Senate leader in late 2008, when economic downturn left the state with a $42 billion deficit. Two years later, he was honored with the John F Kennedy Profile in Courage award by the Kennedy Library Foundation, recognizing his leadership in the bipartisan negotiations leading to the state’s fiscal recovery. Steinberg was named “One to Watch in 2013” by the Wall Street Journal after his political acumen resulted in the first two-thirds Democratic majority in the California Legislature in more than 100 years.
How to Prepare:
Suggested readings available in easily downloadable format at our Readlists site.
Governor Brown’s State of the State Address
Josh Barro, New York Times, Parks and Recreation Come to Life
The Economist, The Drying of the West
George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, Senate Chief Steinberg, Soon to Depart
Jennifer Medina, New York Times, A California Dream: Not Having to Settle for Just One Bedroom
Stanford University Center for the American West, Annual State of the West Symposium
UPDATE: Video of the Session now available)
cover image courtesy of flickr
