Raphael J. Sonenshein (born 1949 in Nutley, New Jersey) is a political science professor at California State University, Fullerton. He is also the current chairman of the department. An instructor at the university since 1982, Sonenshein holds a bachelor's degree in public policy from Princeton University and a doctorate in political science from Yale University. His books, Politics in Black and White: Race and Power in Los Angeles and The City at Stake: Secession, Reform, and the Battle for Los Angeles detail the political history of Los Angeles in the last fifty years. He is currently working on a third book. Sonenshein recently returned to the United States after completing a semester teaching in Paris on a Fulbright Scholarship.
He was executive director of the Los Angeles Appointed Charter Reform Commission, which, along with the Los Angeles Elected Charter Reform Commission that operated simultaneously and with the same mandate, created a "unified charter" proposal for the ballot that provided the first successful and comprehensive update to the city's 1925 charter. The charter measure achieved a 60 percent approval at the polls in June 1999. It boosted's the mayor's power and led to the creation of neighborhood councils and area planning commissions.
He is a nephew of retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Nathan Sonenshein. He currently resides in Santa Monica. http://www.ottmall.com/mj_ht_arch/v9/mj_v9i80.html