How the 2003 Recall Created Today’s Republic of California

Governors on the Left and the Right Have Touted the State as the Global Capital of Freedom. Can the Reality Match the Rhetoric?

Twenty years ago, editors at the Los Angeles Times sent me to Sacramento to interview an anti-tax activist named Ted Costa, who had filed a petition that would lead to the recall of California’s governor, and his replacement by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“The recall is about freedom,” said Costa, as he gleefully referred to himself as a “wacko” and “president of the Banana Republic of California.”

“Here,” he said, “the people are showing the world that they can kick the rulers out anytime they like.”

I thought of Costa as I watched Gov. Gavin …

by Joe Mathews | January 24, 2023

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of California’s Direct Democracy

Keep the Mail-In Ballots. Lose the Money and Special Interests. Give the People More Information

by Jackie Mansky | May 12, 2022

While majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents in California agree that the state’s system of direct democracy is a good thing, they also agree that it needs some fixing, especially …

California’s Recall Was Worth Every Penny

When It Comes to Supporting Democratic Infrastructure, $276 Million Is a Bargain

by Joe Mathews | September 28, 2021

It’s hard to think of a better bargain in our high-cost state than the failed recall election against Gov. Gavin Newsom. At an estimated cost of $276 million—less than $7 …

Where I Go: The Geology of Memory | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

I Should Have Recalled Myself!

The Speech and Strategy That Gov. Gavin Newsom Didn’t Know He Needed

by Joe Mathews | September 14, 2021

This is the speech Gov. Gavin Newsom should have given during the recall campaign, but didn’t.

I know a lot of you think this recall is pretty strange. But you don’t …

Sack Octavius and Newsom! The Recall Is as Old as the Roman Republic

The Tool for Removing Elected Officials Has Had Centuries of Champions—from the Levellers to Lenin

by Matt Qvortrup | August 30, 2021

The recall—the tool being used in an attempt to remove Gavin Newsom as California’s governor before his term is over—might seem strange or novel. It’s neither. The recall is nearly …

California’s Recall Is Riding a Global Wave

From Nigeria to Brazil, Democracies Are Experimenting With New Ways for People to Hold Their Elected Officials Accountable

by Joe Mathews | August 3, 2021

The recall attempt against Gov. Gavin Newsom is being widely—and wrongly—dismissed as a peculiar and illegitimate consequence of California’s strange direct democracy.

The truth is that the recall is very much …

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