Making the California Legislature 50 Percent Female Should Be Easy

The Gender Quotas Used in European Countries Offer a Straightforward Path to Parity—and More Democracy

A few months ago, the new mayor of South Pasadena appointed 18 people to the voluntary local commissions that advise the council in the San Gabriel Valley city.

Routine? Yes, except for one thing. All 18 appointees were women.

The appointments by Mayor Marina Khubesrian might have seemed like a small-town stroke for gender parity in representation. Before the appointments about one-third of all appointees on South Pasadena commissions had been women; after, slightly more than half of all commissioners were women, just like the population of the city itself.

But the …

by Joe Mathews | April 15, 2019

Why California’s Pensions Only Deepen Inequality

The Golden State’s Promise to Retirees Puts at Risk the Other Promises It Makes to Its Citizens

by Joe Mathews | April 8, 2019

If we can’t get rid of the California Rule, can we at least ditch the name?

The California Rule is the misleading moniker we’ve given to our state’s most troublesome legal …

Build a Bullet Train? California Can’t Even Build a One-Mile Rail Tunnel in San Francisco

The Golden State Is Bad at Big Projects, and Even Worse at the Little Ones

by Joe Mathews | April 1, 2019

How is California ever going to finish its high-speed rail project when it still can’t finish San Francisco’s Downtown Rail Extension?

I can’t read Gavin Newsom’s mind, much less understand what …

The Dark Side of Gavin Newsom’s Moratorium on the Death Penalty

Politically and Morally, Death Row Forced Californians to Examine Their Justice System

by Joe Mathews | March 25, 2019

The death penalty in California is dead! Long live the death penalty!

That lede isn’t a joke. It isn’t even a contradiction. In California, the death penalty has long existed simultaneously …

Can Bethel Church Make Redding, California, Heaven on Earth?

Maybe Not, but the 11,000-Member Community Gives Unsparingly to the City

by Joe Mathews | March 18, 2019

Is this heaven, or Redding?

These days, the city of 91,000 at the north end of the Sacramento Valley, seems to sit halfway between the godly and the earthly—and not just …

Why Does California Hate Public Participation?

Real Civic Engagement Requires Both Money and Robust Infrastructure

by Joe Mathews | March 11, 2019

Los Angeles is a city of more than four million people. And in its next budget, it might—I repeat, might—launch an Office of Civic Engagement to help all residents better …

Connecting California

Making the California Legislature 50 Percent Female Should Be Easy

The Gender Quotas Used in European Countries Offer a Straightforward Path to Parity—and More Democracy

Why California’s Pensions Only Deepen Inequality

The Golden State’s Promise to Retirees Puts at Risk the Other Promises It Makes to Its Citizens

Build a Bullet Train? California Can’t Even Build a One-Mile Rail Tunnel in San Francisco

The Golden State Is Bad at Big Projects, and Even Worse at the Little Ones

The Dark Side of Gavin Newsom’s Moratorium on the Death Penalty

Politically and Morally, Death Row Forced Californians to Examine Their Justice System

Can Bethel Church Make Redding, California, Heaven on Earth?

Maybe Not, but the 11,000-Member Community Gives Unsparingly to the City

Why Does California Hate Public Participation?

Real Civic Engagement Requires Both Money and Robust Infrastructure

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To Make California a True Democracy, Give Non-Citizens the Right to Vote

If You Root for the Dodgers, Pay Taxes, and Battle Traffic, Are You Any Less Californian Than Me?

The Female Cooks Who Shaped French Cuisine

A New Generation of Chefs Is Melding the Domestic and Professional—And Moving Toward Equality in the Restaurant Kitchen

Why Do We Only Remember Bra-Burning?

Our Memory of the Women’s Liberation Movement Is Jarringly Incomplete

It Takes More Than a Naked Katy Perry to Get Out the Vote

Ranking Candidates Gives People What They Want: a Choice, a Party, and Tighter Elections

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