Brian C. Anderson is the editor of City Journal, the cultural and political quarterly published by the Manhattan Institute, where he writes extensively on social and political trends. Formerly, he served as senior editor of City Journal and as a research associate at the American Enterprise Institute.

California was once regarded as a model for the nation; trends that started here swept the continent. Today we can only hope this is not true; but as The Beholden State powerfully shows, if California is still a model, the nation is in deep trouble. The stunning swiftness by which California went from being Reagan's "shining city on a hill" to Detroit-by-the-Sea is an object lesson for the rest of the nation on how quickly bad public policy can squander the bounty of nature and the productivity of its creative citizens.

• ContentsPreface | William SimonIntroduction | Brian C. AndersonPart I: The Politics and Economics of DeclineThe Golden State’s War on Itself | Joel KotkinThe Big-Spending, High-Taxing, Lousy-Services Paradigm | William VoegeliThe Beholden State | Steven MalangaCali to Business: Get Out! | Steven MalangaThe Long Stall | Wendell CoxThe Pension Fund That Ate California | Steven MalangaFlatten California! | Arthur B. LafferThe Radical Reform That California Needs | Troy SenikPart II: The Urban Fiscal CrisisLost Angeles | Joel KotkinHow the Road to Bell Was Paved | William VoegeliBroken Windows, Broken City | Steven GreenhutPart III: Public OrderThe Reclamation of Skid Row | Heather Mac DonaldThe LAPD Remade | John BuntinThe Sidewalks of San Francisco | Heather Mac DonaldPart IV: Of Energy and EnvironmentCalifornia Needs a Crude Awakening | Tom GrayCalifornia’s Water Wars | Victor Davis HansonPart V: Immigration DilemmasThe Rainbow Coalition Evaporates | Steven MalangaCalifornia’s Demographic Revolution | Heather Mac DonaldPart VI: EducationThe Worst Union in America | Troy SenikThe Bilingual Ban That Worked | Heather Mac DonaldThe Union’s Occupation | Ben BoychukHED TK | Ben BoychukGrading the Teachers | Larry SandHED TK | Heather Mac DonaldPart VII: The CultureThe Lost Art of War | Andrew KlavanRadical Graffiti Chic | Heather Mac DonaldTom Wolfe’s California | Michael AntonPart VIII: Keep Hope AliveThe Silicon Lining | Guy SormanCalifornia, Here We Stay | Victor Davis Hanson

Brian C. Anderson is the editor of City Journal, the cultural and political quarterly published by the Manhattan Institute, where he writes extensively on social and political trends. Formerly, he served as senior editor of City Journal and as a research associate at the American Enterprise Institute.

California was once regarded as a model for the nation; trends that started here swept the continent. Today we can only hope this is not true; but as The Beholden State powerfully shows, if California is still a model, the nation is in deep trouble. The stunning swiftness by which California went from being Reagan's "shining city on a hill" to Detroit-by-the-Sea is an object lesson for the rest of the nation on how quickly bad public policy can squander the bounty of nature and the productivity of its creative citizens.

• ContentsPreface | William SimonIntroduction | Brian C. AndersonPart I: The Politics and Economics of DeclineThe Golden State’s War on Itself | Joel KotkinThe Big-Spending, High-Taxing, Lousy-Services Paradigm | William VoegeliThe Beholden State | Steven MalangaCali to Business: Get Out! | Steven MalangaThe Long Stall | Wendell CoxThe Pension Fund That Ate California | Steven MalangaFlatten California! | Arthur B. LafferThe Radical Reform That California Needs | Troy SenikPart II: The Urban Fiscal CrisisLost Angeles | Joel KotkinHow the Road to Bell Was Paved | William VoegeliBroken Windows, Broken City | Steven GreenhutPart III: Public OrderThe Reclamation of Skid Row | Heather Mac DonaldThe LAPD Remade | John BuntinThe Sidewalks of San Francisco | Heather Mac DonaldPart IV: Of Energy and EnvironmentCalifornia Needs a Crude Awakening | Tom GrayCalifornia’s Water Wars | Victor Davis HansonPart V: Immigration DilemmasThe Rainbow Coalition Evaporates | Steven MalangaCalifornia’s Demographic Revolution | Heather Mac DonaldPart VI: EducationThe Worst Union in America | Troy SenikThe Bilingual Ban That Worked | Heather Mac DonaldThe Union’s Occupation | Ben BoychukHED TK | Ben BoychukGrading the Teachers | Larry SandHED TK | Heather Mac DonaldPart VII: The CultureThe Lost Art of War | Andrew KlavanRadical Graffiti Chic | Heather Mac DonaldTom Wolfe’s California | Michael AntonPart VIII: Keep Hope AliveThe Silicon Lining | Guy SormanCalifornia, Here We Stay | Victor Davis Hanson

Brian C. Anderson is the editor of City Journal, the cultural and political quarterly published by the Manhattan Institute, where he writes extensively on social and political trends. Formerly, he served as senior editor of City Journal and as a research associate at the American Enterprise Institute.

California was once regarded as a model for the nation; trends that started here swept the continent. Today we can only hope this is not true; but as The Beholden State powerfully shows, if California is still a model, the nation is in deep trouble. The stunning swiftness by which California went from being Reagan's "shining city on a hill" to Detroit-by-the-Sea is an object lesson for the rest of the nation on how quickly bad public policy can squander the bounty of nature and the productivity of its creative citizens.

• ContentsPreface | William SimonIntroduction | Brian C. AndersonPart I: The Politics and Economics of DeclineThe Golden State’s War on Itself | Joel KotkinThe Big-Spending, High-Taxing, Lousy-Services Paradigm | William VoegeliThe Beholden State | Steven MalangaCali to Business: Get Out! | Steven MalangaThe Long Stall | Wendell CoxThe Pension Fund That Ate California | Steven MalangaFlatten California! | Arthur B. LafferThe Radical Reform That California Needs | Troy SenikPart II: The Urban Fiscal CrisisLost Angeles | Joel KotkinHow the Road to Bell Was Paved | William VoegeliBroken Windows, Broken City | Steven GreenhutPart III: Public OrderThe Reclamation of Skid Row | Heather Mac DonaldThe LAPD Remade | John BuntinThe Sidewalks of San Francisco | Heather Mac DonaldPart IV: Of Energy and EnvironmentCalifornia Needs a Crude Awakening | Tom GrayCalifornia’s Water Wars | Victor Davis HansonPart V: Immigration DilemmasThe Rainbow Coalition Evaporates | Steven MalangaCalifornia’s Demographic Revolution | Heather Mac DonaldPart VI: EducationThe Worst Union in America | Troy SenikThe Bilingual Ban That Worked | Heather Mac DonaldThe Union’s Occupation | Ben BoychukHED TK | Ben BoychukGrading the Teachers | Larry SandHED TK | Heather Mac DonaldPart VII: The CultureThe Lost Art of War | Andrew KlavanRadical Graffiti Chic | Heather Mac DonaldTom Wolfe’s California | Michael AntonPart VIII: Keep Hope AliveThe Silicon Lining | Guy SormanCalifornia, Here We Stay | Victor Davis Hanson