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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page book review that focuses on Schrag's principal thesis in his text, Paradise Lost, California's Experience, America's Future (1999). According to Schrag, at one time, California was very close to being perfect. It had good schools, good roads, a welcoming atmosphere and believed in a progressive future. However, that was roughly thirty to forty years ago, and today everything has changed. Schrag's basic thesis is that the quality of life in California has been steadily declining over the last several decades and that the culprit for this degeneration is the "orgy" of "voter initiatives" that have caused the consistent erosion of public services (Schrag 9). No additional sources cited.
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3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khsch1.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
had good schools, good roads, a welcoming atmosphere and believed in a progressive future. However, that was roughly thirty to forty years ago, and today everything has changed. Schrags basic
thesis is that the quality of life in California has been steadily declining over the last several decades and that the culprit for this degeneration is the "orgy" of "voter
initiatives" that have caused the consistent erosion of public services (Schrag 9). Ironically, the law that allows voter initiatives is itself a progression era instrument, instituted in 1911, so
that voters would have a means of curbing excessive government spending. As this suggests, voter initiatives allow California citizens to bypass the legislative process. The first initiative, Proposition 13, was
passed in 1978 and was passed in response to Californias escalating property taxes. It capped property tax at 1 percent of the assessed value of the property and also stipulated
that assessed value can rise no more than 2 percent annually and that local special taxes and bond measures need a two-thirds majority to pass. According to Schrag, Proposition 13
set off a "holy crusade" against taxes of all types (Schrag 9). Californians have passed one initiative after another-- tax limitation initiatives, some that capped state and local spending, measures
that imposed minimum spending formulas on schools, three-strikes sentencing laws, land conservation measures and measures abolishing affirmative action in public education, contracting and employment, just to name a few.
These limitations placed on state and local governments have resulted in dilapidated roads; public libraries on reduced hours or closed altogether; and state and county parks that charge large entrance
fees (Schrag 8). In the last twenty years, California has built twenty new prisons, but in the last thirty years, it has failed to add even one new campus to
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