State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

'Nobody Ran on Stripping Power Away': Putting the Wisconsin Vote in Context

Governing: Wisconsin has had a long tradition of open and transparent government, a legacy of the original progressive movement of a century ago. For many Democrats -- and at least a few Republicans -- the votes held Wednesday by GOP legislators to strip incoming Democratic Gov. Tony Evers of some of his powers amounted to a betrayal of that tradition.

To put this week's action into perspective, Governing spoke with Dan Kaufman, a New York-based writer who is a native of Wisconsin. Earlier this year, Kaufman published The Fall of Wisconsin, a book that examines the actions of Gov. Scott Walker and other contemporary Republicans in their efforts to undo many of the state's political traditions.

Read article