The People's Machine: Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Rise of Blockbuster Democracy

When a Holywood icon merges with California style democracy, something new emerges - a governorship with the people instead of for the people. Joe Mathews offers a fascinating review of a learning process by one of the globes most prominent actorts, Arnold Schwarzenegger. This extremly well-written book is less a reference to Schwarzeneggers movies than an account of what it needs to become a leader beyond tv-ads, polling tests and confrontative politics. Direct Democracy looks like becoming the next big thing - not only in America's most populous state.

Mathews weaves the histroy of the California initiative process with the rise of Arnold. It's not a page turner, but it's fun to read about the personalities and quirks of the political "leaders" in California.

THE PEOPLE'S MACHINE: ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER AND THE RISE OF BLOCKBUSTER DEMOCRACY could have been featured in our Politics section but is reviewed here for its far-reaching interest to general biography readers as well. Author Joe Mathews is the reporter who covered Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times, so he's well steeped in the background of a famous actor who became the governor of the nation's largest state. But this covers more than his rise to power: it surveys his political struggles within the system and the new type of system he made from his celebrity image and contacts. An excellent blend of in-depth analysis and biographical information results.

This book is a fascinating look at a different type of politician. Far from being simply a movie star now "playing" Governor, Mathews' book demonstrates that Schwarzenegger gets involved in the details of public policy to an extent much greater than one would expect. It also is apparent that Schwarzenneger is actually interested in trying to solve some of the state's long term problems, rather than simply staking out positions for political advantage. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand recent California political history (assuming it can be understood!)

I won't spend a lot of space going over the same ground as the two capsule reviews, but suffice to say that Los Angeles Times writer Joe Mathews has done an extraordinary job examining Schwarzenegger and how he came to be governor of California, in terms of both the man's strengths and weaknesses. While making the typical mistakes one expects of someone "new" to California politics (though he met Howard Jarvis and closely followed the machinations involved with Prop 13 many years earlier in the late 1970s), Schwarzenegger comes off smarter than one might expect. Mathews' paralleling Arnold's business accumen and showmanship and to Hiram Johnson's much earlier version of direct democracy makes for a fascinating (and I agree page turning) read on the Governator, a Republican by party affiliation, but hardly in lock step with the GOP leadership. Joe Mathews has managed to keep whatever personal feelings he has about Schwarzenegger in a file drawer somewhere, and takes an honest look the campaign and beyond with wit, vigor and good old-fashioned in-depth investigative coverage. In the end, whatever popularity Schwarzenegger maintains with California voters has been earned through trial and error, and hard work, as has everything he's attained all his life.