Reform and Reaction

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Originating under the leadership of the late Burdett Loomis, Reform and Reaction tells the complex story of recent Kansas politics, beginning with the end of Old Kansas that took place in the 1960s and concluding with the reversal of Governor Sam Brownback's "Red State" policies in the 2016 and 2018 elections. The Kansas that emerged from the reapportionment decisions and the overhaul of state government in the 1960s and 1970s was one that found itself in a push-and-pull, reform-and-reaction pattern the authors refer to as the arc of Kansas politics. Reform-minded and policy-oriented politicians, who tended toward a moderate, bipartisan approach, pushed to modernize the state to better serve the needs of its citizens, following the maxim of Governer Robert Docking: "austere but adequate." Because this approach avoided or rejected the narrow conservative interests of culture warriors, reformist administrations were followed by reactionary administrations that advanced a right-wing agenda. Brownback thus brought the era of "austere but adequate" to an abrupt end when he won the governorship in 2010. When voters became tired of this approach, a new set of reform politicians were elected-and so the arc continues. Reform and Reaction not only illuminates the political history of Kansas, but it also sheds light on what may be in store"--