Youth Vote
Raphael J. Sonenshein
Raphael J. Sonenshein has been teaching political science at Cal State Fullerton since 1982. He is an expert on American government, urban government, campaigns and elections, racial and minority politics and California and Los Angeles politics and government, and often is called upon to offer news commentary. He is the author of “Politics in Black and White: Race and Power in Los Angeles” (1993) and “The City At Stake: Secession, Reform, and the Battle for Los Angeles” (2004). He provided historical background about race, ethnicity and events that shaped Los Angeles politics and history for the PBS documentary “The New Los Angeles.”
Dr. Sonenshein earned his doctorate and master’s degree in political science at Yale and his bachelor’s degree in public policy at Princeton, where he was a Woodrow Wilson School Scholar.
He was recently selected for the Fulbright Distinguished Chairs Program, which is reserved for “eminent scholars” with significant publication and teaching records. The 40 some appointments awarded each year are among the most prestigious in the Fulbright Scholar Program. He is spending the fall 2008 semester in France where he is monitoring the upcoming U.S. presidential election and sharing his thoughts.
Other honors include being selected as the recipient of CSUF’s inaugural Carol Barnes Excellence in Teaching Award for 2005-06.
In 2005, he was one of five winners throughout the 23-CSU system to receive the prestigious Wang Family Excellence Award, established by CSU Trustee Stanley T. Wang, to recognize outstanding achievements of faculty members and administrators.
In 2006, he was one of two recipients of the inaugural Haynes Award for Research Impact. The honor, bestowed by the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, was awarded based on Dr. Sonenshein’s work as a political researcher in raising awareness of issues that affect politics in Los Angeles.
He has written extensively on the relationships among racial and ethnic groups and about the governance of American cities, particularly Los Angeles. His award-winning book, “Politics in Black and White: Race and Power in Los Angeles” (Princeton, 1993) is a study of the biracial coalition that elected Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.
Dr. Sonenshein’s research explores urban coalitions in an age of immigration. Frequently sought after for his knowledge of Los Angeles politics and governance, he has acted as a consultant to citizen commissions in several municipalities in the region, as well as a commentator and writer for local and national media.
Between 1997 and 1999, he served as executive director of the Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission, and his related book, “The City at Stake: Secession, Reform and the Battle for Los Angeles,” was published in 2004 by Princeton University Press. In 2001-02 he served as a Haynes Fellow, spearheading a major conference on Los Angeles governance. With a grant from the Haynes Foundation, he has recently undertaken the complete revision of “Structure of a City,” a book published by the League of Women Voters.
