Linkagogo Archive 1: Political Reform

Showing posts with label Political Reform. Show all posts

Stephen Hill Linkography: Electoral Politics

Fixing Elections: The Failure of America's Winner Take All Politics
Book: published - Routledge, 2003. On November 9th 2000, two days after the presidential election, as the nation was beginning to absorb the full extent of the five-week debacle that was about to ensue, USA Today published a map (similar to the one printed on the back cover of this book) that was portentous in its message.

Study Shows "Top Two" Could Elect More Extremists, Not Moderates
Post: 10 March 2009 on a blog from New America's Political Reform Program. Here is some brand new analysis from Washington state results that might shed light on the efficacy of the top two primary, which many are promoting as a good thing for CA. It is especially directed at whether the top two would elect more moderates -- or more extremists? This evidence below suggests it's a bit of a crapshoot, the top two primary could as easily elect more extremists as elect more moderates. Follow the link above for details.

Who's Right Now? Europe's Far-Right Resurgence Fizzles Out
Article: 1 February 2003 - The American Prospect. The idea of European society as a "melting pot" or "rainbow quilt" is alien and new, and undoubtedly there will be strains for some time to come. But for the American media and punditry -- right, left and mainstream -- to portray the situation as one in which Nazis and fascists are gaining a real foothold in Europe is erroneous and hyperbolic.

Why Progressives Lose: Affirmative Action For Conservatives
Article: June 2003 - Progressive Populis. It is deeply ironic that, for all the radical conservative philosophy oozing from the ideologues of the Republican Party, low-population, conservative, and predominantly white states have benefited from the most flagrant form of representational affirmative action. The representation scheme for the U.S. Senate and Electoral College was founded on quotas for low-population states that have disproportionately favored conservative and white-dominated states for decades.

The World Wide Webbed: The Obama Campaign’s Masterful Use of the Internet
Article: 6 April 2009 - Social Europe Journal. Just as President Barack Obama has shaken up the status quo in his first 100 days in office, his campaign overturned old formulas about how to win the presidency. The Obama campaign did not focus only on battleground states, but instead charged into states that previously had been solidly Republican turf.

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Stephen Hill Linkography: California

Monetary Fix For California: Let’s Ditch
The U.S. Dollar
Article: 13 March 2011 - Sacramento Bee. (a version also was published in The Guardian) Many solutions have been proposed to the political and economic crises of our Golden State, with Gov. Jerry Brown calling for a June election to deal with the state budget.

Make State Government More Efficient, Less Expensive
Article: 11 May 2011 - Los Angeles Times. Having four separate agencies controlling finance and taxes, and three separate entities covering education, seems like overkill. And do we really need a lieutenant governor?

Schwarzenegger vs. Gerrymander
Article: 19 February 2005 - New York Times. A nonpartisan redistricting commission may make a few more legislative seats more competitive. And it certainly would have the salutary effect of changing the public perception that incumbents have a hand in rigging their own district lines. But such tinkering is not likely to change much else.

Steven Hill on Rewriting California's Constitution
Interview: 19 August 2009 - KALW's Ben Trefny sat down with Steven Hill. (AUDIO) A small and growing group of California citizens are angry that the state's budget process appears to be broken and they've decided to take action. Legislators are crafting dozens of plans to ease the budget process, but civic groups aren't waiting. The Bay Area Council is calling for a constitutional convention for the state--one comprised of randomly selected citizen delegates who would determine policy without the pressures of voters or the influence of lobbyists. But, how would it work?

What the U.S. (Even California) Can Learn
From Europe

Event featured speaker: 16 February 2010 -
CSAC (California State Association of Counties)
Legislative Conference. The New America Foundation hosts a conversation with Steven Hill about his new book: Europe's Promise: Why the European Way is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age. Watch this video and find out why California would be better off seceding from the U.S. and joining the European Union!

Pros And Cons of a Top-Two Primary: State Sen. Abel Maldonado Wants One, But Will It Help California?

Article: 20 February 2009 Los Angeles Times. State Sen. Abel Maldonado, a Republican legislator from the Central Coast, had the Democrats over a budget barrel and extracted from them the ultimate insider's deal -- they would put three of his pet ideas on the 2010 ballot (as constitutional amendments) in return for his deciding vote on the budget. You have to admire Maldonado's moxie even as you're appalled at this latest example of how broken the legislative process in Sacramento has become.

The Way Forward for Political Reform
Article: 19 December 2006 - San Francisco Chronicle. A new opinion poll finds that California voters overwhelmingly support improvements in the election process, but there's a catch -- it depends on who is proposing them. Turn the details over to a California Citizens' Assembly, and let average citizens decide what political reform is best for California.

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Stephen Hill Linkography: Judicial Reform

Building a Balanced Supreme Court: Changing the Rules to Prevent Partisan Domination on the Bench
Article: 17 May 2010 - New York Daily News. Oftentimes, American-style partisanship results in Republicans and Democrats fighting like two mindless gamecocks in the ring. Well, take your seats, because nothing brings out this combative behavior more than a Supreme Court nomination.

Steven Hill on Federal Judges, Lifetime Appointment and a Better Supreme Court

Blog: posted Progressive Advocacy - 25 August 2005. Hill has a well-researched op-ed on lifetime appointment of federal judges. He calls for term limits, mandatory retirement ages, higher confirmation thresholds to require bipartisan appointments and multiple appointment institutions to create a more representative and somewhat counter-intuitively, less partisan judiciary.

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Stephen Hill Linkography: Features

Book Review of Europe’s Promise: Why the European Way is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age
Book review: Posted 31 January 2010 on Folkpolitics by the Liberal Arts Dude. (Provides an excellent overview of Europe's Promise.)The reviewer found Hill's book fascinating and recommended that it deserves to be read widely in the United States. More specifically, he suggested that American public policy makers, politicians, pundits, and those who have power to craft public opinion and policy should read it and take a long hard look at American institutions, economic practices, policy-making, etc. and ask themselves –"Are we doing the best job that we can do and getting the results we intended?"

Europe's Promise by Steven Hill
Book review: Posted 10 April 2010 - Will blog for food by John. An excellent book review! So don’t be put off by the blog’s title or the length of the review. John’s style of writing and knowledge of the subject makes this a fascinating read. He agrees with Hill’s assessment of the current situation and goes on to make a number of thought provoking comparisons between the policies of U.S. and European governments (Norway in particular).

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Stephen Hill Linkography: Globalization

Next Steps For Social Democracy: An American Perspective
Article: 16 December 2009 - Social Europe Journal. This article was published as part of the "Building the Good Society" debate hosted by Social Europe Journal. In Hill's opinion, the predicament of social democracy strikes at the heart of several modern dilemmas that will be at the forefront of the twenty-first century. Given the many obstacles and challenges presented by globalisation, global warming and geopolitical shifts, he believes that social democrats have made remarkable gains and are providing a beacon to the rest of the world.

Steven Hill on Europe’s Promise
Video: Book talk: 21 January 2010 - held at the New America Foundation. Also posted with title: What the U.S. (Even California) Can Learn from Europe
The author discusses his new book and explains Europe's bold new vision. For a decade Hill travelled widely to understand this uniquely European way of life. He shatters myths and describes how Europe's leadership is rooted in different economic, social and cultural values. Hill points out that the European model has the greatest potential to nudge the world forward.

San Francisco Mayoral Race Mobilizes Opposition
to Globalization
Article: 2000 - Labornet viewpoints: Global online communication for a democratic, independent labor movement. San Francisco, a busy commercial and Internet center riding the crest of nearby Silicon Valley, is the poster city for the globalized economy. Local startups, IPOs and surging stock prices are the latest embodiment of the American Dream, dangling the bait before a wide-eyed generation. Interestingly enough, this electoral challenge came less than two weeks after thousands of protesters in Seattle delivered a shot across the bow of the WTO and its cruise ship, the USS Globalization.

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