The Politics of Reform: PAR : 50 Years of Changing Louisiana - Softcover

From Earl Long to Edwin Edwards, powerful and colorful governors have dominated Louisiana politics, with little interference from the Legislature or an opposition party. To counter the excesses of strong-man rule, a group of citizens organized the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana in 1950 to set an agenda for reform and to provide independent, unbiased information on which lawmakers and voters could act. In the Politics of Reform, author and journalist John Maginnis traces a half century of PAR's central role in the major issues of our times -- desegregation, public corruption, the new constitution, reapportionment, campaign finance and fiscal reform. Along the way, it worked with and clashed with governors, legislators and a political establishment often threatened by PAR's mission to change Louisiana.