Paradise Lost: California's Experience, America's Future

by Peter Schrag

In the years after World War II California became an encouraging model for the nation. It was admired and envied for the quality of its education system, its environment, and its progressive social outlook. However, beginning with the passage of the tax-cutting Proposition 13 in 1978, the state has pursued a determined course of retrenchment and reaction, sending it tumbling to the bottom of the nation's "quality of life" rankings. In Paradise Lost, Peter Schrag examines the relationship between the politics of that retrenchment and the great demographic changes in the state. It shows that California is a test for the nation, and a frightening indicator of our society's readiness to assimilate and serve all its new citizens.

344 pages, Hardcover

Published April 15, 1998