The California as First “Failed State” Debate: Schwarzenegger, Davis, Whitman, and Jerry Brown

2 March 2010
William Bradley

Is California America’s first “failed state?”… It’s a hot topic. You see it suggested in the press. It’s spinning into the very high-stakes California governor’s race. There was even a formal debate about it in late January in New York City. Schwarzenegger in particular was very struck by that debate, sponsored by Open to Debate formerly known as Intelligence Squared U.S., as he told me when we talked about it the other day. The event dripped with irony, as it featured Schwarzenegger’s brother-in-law, Bobby Shriver, as the most prominent member of the team of three arguing that California is America’s first “failed state.”