Fighting Political Gridlock

David J. Toscano

Description

In this profoundly polarized era, the nation has been transfixed on the politics of Washington and its seemingly impenetrable gridlock. Many of the decisions that truly affect people’s lives, however, are being made not on the federal level but in the states. Faced with Washington’s political standoff, state governments are taking action on numerous vital issues, often impacting citizens and their communities far more than the decision makers in D.C. Despite this, few Americans really understand their state governments or the issues they address. In Fighting Political Gridlock, David Toscano reveals how the states are working around the impasse in Washington and how their work is increasingly shaping society.

Long a central figure in one of the most important legislative bodies in the nation, the Virginia House of Delegates, Toscano brings a unique expertise to this urgent and timely discussion. Beginning with an analysis of state responses to COVID-19, including the processes and consequences of declaring states of emergency, he goes on to detail how various states are attacking issues in different ways–from education and voting to criminal justice and climate change–and provides a broad overview of how state actions affect our system of federalism. Toscano concludes with a call to action and civic engagement, including suggestions for how citizens and public officials can revitalize American democracy.

Foreword by Senator Mark R. Warner
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Fights of Our Lives
1. States of Emergency
2. Labratories of Democracy
3. State Constitutions Matter
4. The Cards You Are Dealt
5. Players on the Stage
6. Controlling the Nation One State at a Time
7. States of Knowledge
8. Crime, Punishment, and Justice
9. Building State Economies
10. Don't Forget Health Care!
11. Flashpoints in the Culture Wars of States: Abortion, Guns, and Immigration
12. Tip O'Neill Is Still Dead
13. Saving the Planet
Conclusion: Reimagining Civic Engagement
Notes
Index

Sujets

• Histoire
• 21st Century
• United States
• History

Informations

• Publié par: University of Virginia Press
• Date de parution: 07 septembre 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780813946474
• Langue: English

Extrait

Fighting Political Gridlock
Fighting Political Gridlock
How States Shape Our Nation and Our Lives
David J. Toscano
Foreword by Senator Mark R. Warner
University of Virginia Press
Charlottesville and London
University of Virginia Press
© 2021 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
First published 2021
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Toscano, David J., author.
Title: Fighting political gridlock : how states shape our nation and our lives / David J. Toscano.
Description: Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020058636 (print) | LCCN 2020058637 (ebook) | ISBN 9780813946467 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780813946474 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: State governments—United States. | State governments—Virginia. | Policy sciences—United States. | Policy sciences—Virginia.
Classification: LCC JK2408 .T58 2021 (print) | LCC JK2408 (ebook) | DDC 320.60973—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020058636
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020058637
To state lawmakers throughout the land,
searching for solutions in the “laboratories of democracy”
Contents
Foreword by Senator Mark R. Warner
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Fights of Our Lives
1 States of Emergency
2 Laboratories of Democracy
3 State Constitutions Matter
4 The Cards You Are Dealt
5 Players on the Stage
6 Controlling the Nation One State at a Time
7 States of Knowledge
8 Crime, Punishment, and Justice
9 Building State Economies
10 Don’t Forget Health Care!
11 Flashpoints in the Culture Wars of States: Abortion, Guns, and Immigration
12 Tip O’Neill Is Still Dead
13 Saving the Planet
Conclusion: Reimagining Civic Engagement
Notes
Index
Foreword
I first met David and his wife, Nancy, in the early nineties, when I was serving as chair of the Democratic Party in Virginia and David was a new member of the Charlottesville City Council. We’ve been friends since then, close to thirty years, and I’ve always known David to be both thoughtful and solutions oriented, so this book could not come at a more important time.
With the departure of President Donald Trump after a single term and the election of President Joe Biden on a bipartisan mandate, it’s clear that Americans long for an end to the gridlock and dysfunction that have characterized our national political institutions for too long. To that end, President Biden and the new Democratic Congress would be well served to look toward state capitals such as Richmond as a model for what is possible when elected officials and politicians are rewarded for solving problems, not merely for kicking the other side.
I’m honored that Virginians have put their trust in me to represent them in the U.S. Senate, reelecting me in 2020 for a third term—but it’s no secret that serving as governor was, in many ways, the best job I’ve ever had. As a Democratic governor from 2002 to 2006, I worked with a Republican-controlled state legislature to reform the tax code, get our budgetary house in order and save Virginia’s AAA bond rating, and make the single largest investment in K–12 education in Virginia history. By the time I left office after four years, Virginia ranked nationally as the best-managed state, best state in which to do business, and the best state to get a public K–12 education.
The fact that we were able to accomplish so much in just four years, despite having a legislature controlled by the other party, is a testament to the ways in which state governments differ from where I work in Washington, D.C. As COVID-19 has brought into stark relief, many of the decisions that most affect your everyday life—your children’s education, your health—are made not in our nation’s capital but in statehouses around the country.
While I didn’t serve with him, I was a close observer as David was elected to the state legislature in 2005—holding a seat once occupied by Thomas Jefferson—and quickly rose to be Democratic leader in 2011. Coming to Richmond from Charlottesville, David represented one of the most notoriously progressive parts of the Commonwealth in the state capital. As House minority leader, he often had to balance what his constituents demanded with the diverse needs of the entire Democratic caucus, who hailed from rural Virginia, Northern Virginia, and the urban cores of Richmond and Hampton Roads—and he never failed to do so with both grace and style.
As the publication of this book demonstrates, David still has much to contribute to the political and civic dialogue—not only in Virginia but across the country. In Fighting Political Gridlock: How States Shape Our Nation and Our Lives, David thoughtfully examines the ways in which our state governments still form the backbone of our civic and political governance. Though the work—or lack thereof—in Washington often hogs the proverbial spotlight, our political system is, at its heart, decentralized. The federalist system devised by our founders two and a half centuries ago ensures that core services of government, such as the administration of criminal justice, and even more existential questions of representation—such as redistricting and how voters choose their representatives—are decided primarily at the state and local level. This is what enables states to serve the needs of their citizens even as it often seems that national consensus and action appear increasingly out of reach.
With this book, David Toscano has thoughtfully highlighted the opportunities and challenges facing our state governments. I am confident that this work will soon be considered essential reading for students, policymakers, and public officials alike.
Mark R. Warner
U.S. Senator, 2009–present
Governor of Virginia, 2002–2006
Acknowledgments
This book began as an effort to synthesize my fourteen-year experience as a state legislator with policy debates taking place in Virginia and nationally during the first decades of the twenty-first century. What emerged was a manuscript that was too long and overly complicated for what I was attempting to do, that is, to show why states matter in this great nation of ours. Fortunately, my editor at the University of Virginia Press, Nadine Zimmerli, suggested that I remove much of the Virginia-specific material for a future undertaking and concentrate on the national scene. It was a good move, and allowed me to focus on the unique character of various state policies and their impact, leaving much of the Virginia material for later. Her keen insight and editorial touch helped tremendously in generating this book.
This undertaking benefits greatly from many others as well. My former legislative aide, Erin Monaghan, spent countless hours reading and editing various iterations of this manuscript; being a lawyer, she was invaluable as I tried to make legal concepts more comprehensible. A number of exceptional Virginia historians, among them Brent Tarter, Ron Heinemann, Ed Ayers, George Gilliam, and Elizabeth Varon, helped me understand Virginia’s history and the state during Reconstruction in greater detail. Much of material on Virginia’s history is included in an upcoming volume, but the insights helped shape this narrative in several key places. Law professors Carl Tobias and Richard Schragger provided new insights into judicial selection processes and the interplay between state and local government. Jeremy Anderson, president of the Education Commission of the States, Peter Blake, director of Virginia’s State Council on Higher Education (SCHEV), and Robert E. Anderson, president of the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO), all reviewed the sections on higher education and provided useful insights. Chris Bast, Thomas Hadwin, Albert Pollard, and newly installed Virginia State Corporation commissioner Angela Navarro were kind enough to comment on the energy chapter and helped clarify some of the complex issues I had either neglected or inadequately explained. Constitutional scholar A. E. “Dick” Howard, a key drafter of Virginia’s 1972 Constitution, helped me think about state constitutions in new ways. Former US congressman L. F. Payne was an early and insightful reader of portions, as were Delegates Mark Sickles and Rip Sullivan. Friends Richard and Meg Zakin, Ned Martin, and David Gies provided feedback on the introduction.
Larry Sabato of Virginia’s Center for Politics encouraged me along the way; his insights into state and national politics are the measure by which many analyses are judged. Former and present Virginia governmental staffers such as Bill Leighty, who served with distinction in Republican and Democratic administrations, and Paul Reagan and Larry Roberts provided further background on how decisions are made in the executive branch. I owe a special debt to all the delegates and senators with whom I served—not only because they work to make the commonwealth a better place to live and are the source of great stories, but because they provided critical insights about how state policy is made. Special gratitude goes to the governors with whom I served, Ralph Northam, Tim Kaine, Bob McDonnell, and Terry McAuliffe, all of whom I watched balance the competing needs of the commonwealth a