The California Governor Recall Election

This brief text supplement, free when bundled with another Wadsworth title, analyzes the roots of recall in California, how politics' version of The Perfect Storm led to the 2003 recall effort, the dynamics of the signature drive, the recall campaign, mid-campaign court challenges, the outcome, and its meaning for California politics. In sum, we address these questions: Was the California recall a "crazy circus" as many claimed or did it really illustrate business as usual in California? Did an admittedly unusual election produce rather ordinary, predictable results in terms of winners, losers, and the workings of the electoral process?