Drawing on historical and contemporary data (including survey data, participant observation, interviews, and current writings and scholarship), and providing timely new analysis, the authors argue that independent voters are an engine for a transformation of US democracy, perhaps even its saviors. For a wide variety of audiences, this book gives students, scholars, campaign professionals, activists, and media analysts insight into current voting dynamics and future possibilities.

Thom Reilly is a professor in the School of Public Affairs and co-director for the Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy at Arizona State University.

Jacqueline S. Salit is President of Independent Voting and co-director for the Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy at Arizona State University.

Omar H. Ali is Dean of Lloyd International Honors College and a professor of African American political history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

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Praise for
The Independent Voter

"The Independent Voter does a fantastic job chronicling the rise, and power, of the fastest-growing segment of the electorate in the United States. It is clear that more and more Americans are tired of partisan gridlock and want their leaders to be public servants, not party servants. Republicans and Democratic leaders should take note and anyone interested in the future of American Democracy should read this book."
--Arnold Schwarzenegger

“This book's exploration of [independent voters] is important and honest. The major media organizations try to marginalize this group as being secretly partisan, or not holding any consistent beliefs. These organizations are trying to marginalize Independent voters because they know that we're actually the majority, and if we band together, we can take this country back from the extreme partisans they represent.”
--Andrew Yang, from the Foreword

“This work seeks to prove that independent voters do indeed exist and are a powerful force. Anyone interested in the possibility of reimagining our two-party system should read this book.”
--Cathy J. Cohen, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago

“If you are interested in America's independent voters, you must read this book. It analyzes who independent voters are and makes a strong argument about how those not registered with a political party face ballot access challenges in states across the country. This book provocatively grapples with who independent voters are and why they matter.”
--Christian Grose, Professor of Political Science, University of Southern California

“Reilly, Salit, and Ali paint a picture of an emergence, a political sensibility that goes back to the founding of the country and looks forward. It's a book about possibility: how ordinary Americans are refusing to play by the partisan rules. Read this book if you want to be inspired!” 
--John Opdycke, President, Open Primaries

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The quality of local governance matters more than ever before.

To many citizens, their local government is the most tangible form of government, and it is also the layer of government with which they have most contact in their everyday life. The power of local administration is that it represents ordinary citizens. People eat, drink, work, play and socialize with others in towns and cities. To be fully effective, local government management and service delivery capacity need to be strong, and resources need to be adequate. Civil society and businesses are essential actors in ensuring local governments have this capacity to meet the needs of its citizens.

There are a host of challenges that confront local government in the 21st century: delivering quality services; lack of finance and local fiscal autonomy; engaging citizens and communities in meaningful and authentic ways; forming effective partnerships which incentivize local actors to find solutions to the many complex and intractable issues facing communities; generating inclusive and sustainable development; implementing strategies for disaster risk reduction; managing transparent communications; and, rapidly evolving technologies and socio-economic demographics.

The Governance of Local Communities: Global Perspectives and Challenges is about the role that ideas, institutions, and actors play in structuring how people govern local communities and, more specifically, the types of adaptations necessary in local government roles and responsibilities, structures, and processes to effectively respond to a changing local government environment.

Global changes require that we rethink local governance. A wide net of international experts on local governance was assembled for this volume to stimulate frank conversations around the many contemporary challenges facing local government.

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In the late 2000s, the small Southern California town of Bell erupted in a scandal that revealed a truly astonishing level of municipal corruption— described by Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley as “corruption on steroids.” This book details how Bell was rendered vulnerable to such massive malfeasance by a disengaged public, lack of established ethical norms, absence of effective checks and balances, and minimal coverage by an overextended area news media. It is a grim and nearly unbelievable story. By considering factors arising from both theory and practice, Reilly makes clear why the sad saga of Bell, California, represents both a case study and a warning.

"How could this have happened?" The question still lingers among officials and residents of the small southern California town of Bell. Corruption is hardly an isolated challenge to the governance of America’s cities. But following decades of benign obscurity, Bell witnessed the emergence of a truly astonishing level of public wrongdoing – a level succinctly described by Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley as “corruption on steroids.”

Even discounting the enormous sums involved – the top administrator paid himself nearly $800,000 a year in a town with a $35,000 average income – this was no ordinary failure of governance. The picture that emerges from years of federal, state and local investigations, trials, depositions and media accounts is of an elaborate culture of corruption and deceit created and sustained by top city administrators, councilmembers, police officers, numerous municipal employees and consultants.

The Failure of Governance in Bell California: Big-Time Corruption in a Small Town details how Bell was rendered vulnerable to such massive malfeasance by a poorly educated and disengaged public, lack of established ethical norms, absence of effective checks and balances, and minimal coverage by an overextended area news media. It is a grim and nearly unbelievable story.

Yet even these factors fail to fully explain how such large-scale corruption could have arisen. More specifically, how did it occur within a structure – the council-manager form of government – that had been deliberately designed to promote good governance? Why were so many officials and employees prepared to participate in or overlook the ongoing corruption? To what degree can theories of governance, such as contagion theory or the “rover bandit” theme, explain the success of such blatant wrongdoing?

The Failure of Governance, by Arizona State University Professor Thom Reilly – himself former manager of Clark County, Nevada – pursues answers to these and related questions through an analysis of municipal operations that will afford the reader deeper insight into the inner workings of city governments – corrupt and otherwise. By considering factors arising from both theory and practice, Reilly makes clear, in other words, why the sad saga of Bell, California represents both a case study and a warning.    

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"Using this book, practitioners will be challenged and prompted to consider several critical questions, including: How can public trust be regained? and How can public engagement be spurred and sustained?" -Ramona Denby-Brinson, Arizona State University

"This book replete with scandalous details, as well as insightful interpretations and suggestions for reform..." -U.S Rep. Dina Titus, 1st District of Nevada; emeritus professor of political science, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

"Thom Reilly provides an in-depth analysis of the sordid details and broad schemes of this massive corruption." -Chester A. Newland, Senior Professor of Public Administration, University of the Paci c McGeorge School of Law

"Virtually every page prompts substantive discussion topics for the reader. This is a must-read not only for students of government, administration and public policy, but for every concerned citizen." -Kathryn Landreth, former United States Attorney for the District of Nevada

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"Public administration practitioners, teachers, and researchers are truly the beneficiaries of this work. This book provides a roadmap with mile markers that are a public sector ethical lens through which to view the requisite conditions that enable massive public corruption. Using this book, practitioners will be challenged and prompted to consider several critical questions, including: How can public trust be regained? and How can public engagement be spurred and sustained?" Read full review
-Ramona Denby-Brinson, Arizona State University

Corruption is widespread in American local government, producing more than 1,000 indictments annually. Reilly (Arizona State Univ.) chronicles such a case in Bell, CA (population 35,000), a low-income community in which seven public officials were eventually sentenced to prison. In 2010, two reporters with the Los Angeles Times uncovered excessively high salaries and a cluster of crimes in city hall. Trials soon followed, and by 2012, new officials were seated and order restored to Bell. The most prominent offender was Robert Rizzo, city administrator for 17 years, who built alliances with other council members and administrators to cover their misdeeds. Several factors contributed to this misconduct: unethical leadership by officials, lack of media coverage of city affairs, a breakdown in the checks and balances normally built into local governance, a culture of corruption that residents tolerated or were unaware of, and lack of attention by county and state authorities. This is a well-documented analysis of conditions that could exist in many governments and provides a warning to all citizens.
Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals. -Choice Reviews

“Reilly’s excellent account of corruption in local government is written with the expertise of a scholar who is uent in theory and the acumen of a practitioner who has witnessed such behavior up close and personal. This book replete with scandalous details, as well as insightful interpretations and suggestions for reform, will have broad appeal with the general public, for local administrators and in the classroom.” -U.S Rep. Dina Titus, 1st District of Nevada; emeritus professor of political science, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

“Far beyond wildly unimaginable ction, this reality-based book is an importantly great read on public affairs. It tells the story of a decade of Big Time Corruption in Bell, California – years of self-serving exercise of power shared among of cials in deliberately agrant violation of legal standards and other fundamentals of public service. Beyond that, Bell is also a sad case of sustained failure of professional, civic, legal, academic, and other institutions upon which society depends for responsible public affairs. As a former professional manager of Clark County (Las Vegas), Nevada, and now a leading public-policy academician, Thom Reilly provides an in-depth analysis of the sordid details and broad schemes of this massive corruption. His deeply informed analysis of The Failure of Governance in Bell, California, warrants study by civic leaders, political of cials, professional local-government managers, and students who hope to enter these public-service roles. It provides swift and hopefully lasting learning about abhorrent practices of all-too-easy corruption, thereby elevating understanding of necessities of elevated aspirations and practices of responsible government and other public affairs.” -Chester A. Newland, Senior Professor of Public Administration, University of the Paci c McGeorge School of Law; Duggan Distinguished Professor of Public Administration Emeritus, University of Southern California

“Thom Reilly depicts the almost unbelievable levels of greed and corruption that brought an entire municipal government to its knees. His incisive narrative not only carefully details the many enabling conditions that allowed this brazen looting of a small, vulnerable community to occur, but also skillfully incorporates an analysis of cultural norms and governmental structures that historically have been designed to deter corruption. Virtually every page prompts substantive discussion topics for the reader. This is a must-read not only for students of government, administration and public policy, but for every concerned citizen. The account of the systematic and unchallenged dismantling of checks and balances and external safeguards against graft serves as a cautionary tale to anyone who thinks it couldn’t happen in their community.” -Kathryn Landreth, former United States Attorney for the District of Nevada

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The ongoing global financial crisis, coupled with the continued dramatic increases in life expectancy, have escalated the concerns countries have regarding the sustainability of their pension systems and how these retirement schemes will be financed. From 1998 to 2008, close to 30 countries embarked on privatizing reforms to their pension programs. Some of these countries introduced new pension reforms directed at private individual accounts while reducing the size of the state social security system. The focus of other reforms during this period varied but was primarily aimed at strengthening basic protection for economically at-risk older individuals, increasing benefit coverage and/or improving the overall fiscal sustainability of these systems. However, the move towards greater coverage and sustainability was interrupted by the worldwide financial meltdown. This has led to a reassessment of pension systems and reform approaches. This volume was assembled to review the status of pension reforms globally and to gain a glimpse of the trends emerging as countries adjust to the new age of macroeconomic worldwide uncertainty. The chapters in this volume provide concise, clear and dispassionate discussions on these trends and reforms as well as frank appraisals of the consequences of alternative policies. Experts from Europe, the United States and the emerging economies of Brazil, China and India approach pension reform and reassessment from different perspectives; however, each provide forthright analyses and assessment of the consequences of the “new normal”.

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