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In the COMMONWEALTH 
Gerard J. Fitzpatrick, Editor 

 
No one has been more frustrated than I by the lapse of three years 

since the appearance of the last volume of COMMONWEALTH. A paucity 
of submissions continues to take its toll. Nonetheless, the journal has not 
relaxed its publication standards in an effort to accelerate its publication 
schedule. Indeed, I continue to be impressed by the care taken by our 
anonymous referees in reviewing manuscripts and by the exacting criteria 
they apply in evaluating the scholarly merits of submissions. As I have 
noted before, getting published in COMMONWEALTH is not easy; and if 
that means an occasional hiatus until we get quality articles, so be it. 

 
I believe the content of this current volume shows that the wait has 

been worthwhile. As in the past, our usual contingent of five scholarly 
articles continues to reflect several subfields of political science: one 
article on political philosophy, one on international relations, and three on 
Pennsylvania politics or public policy. In addition, this issue of 
COMMONWEALTH marks the debut of our new book review section. 
Thanks go to associate editor Tom Baldino who proposed the idea and 
secured the reviews. All the books reviewed in this issue concern 
Pennsylvania government, politics, policy, and history—a focus likely to 
continue in the future. 

 
In our lead article, Dr. Daniel DiLeo explores the link between 13th 

century Thomistic political philosophy and contemporary political 
liberalism. Finding that Aquinas’ theologically grounded conception of 
“the good” is more compatible with political pluralism than modern 
liberals might think, Dr. DiLeo demonstrates that not only do classic 
political thinkers continue to speak to us from across the centuries, but that 
their teachings offer valuable insights into current political disputes. His 
article is particularly relevant to the debate between those who want to see 
more religion in public life and those advocating strict separation of 
church and state. 

 
Perhaps the most contentious issue of George W. Bush’s presidency 

has been the President’s conduct of foreign policy, particularly his “war 
on terrorism.” Nathan R. Shrader examines what he sees as a change in 
Mr. Bush’s foreign policy rhetoric from “realism” to “liberal 
internationalism” in an effort to persuade the American public to accept 
his aggressive exercise of executive power on the world stage. Not only 
does Mr. Shrader make a valuable contribution to the literature on the 

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“rhetorical presidency,” he also illuminates the realities of modern 
political marketing techniques in selling controversial public policies. 

 
In the first of our three articles on Pennsylvania politics, Dr. Matthew 

Hale studies how the major local television networks in the Philadelphia 
media market, the nation’s fourth largest, covered the 2004 elections. 
Focusing upon the size of the market and the competitiveness of the races 
within it, he finds that the networks largely ignored local and statewide 
races in order to focus upon the presidential contest. Moreover, while local 
television coverage emphasized the aspects of the “horse race” more than 
substantive issues, it did provide valuable information about the local 
electoral scene that could help voters in casting their ballots. 

 
In a sequel to an article published in COMMONWEALTH four years 

ago, Dr. Jeffrey Kraus again portrays Philadelphia as having been really 
two cities with regard to the mayoral election of 2003. In a re-match of 
their 1999 encounter, Democratic incumbent John Street, an African-
American, squared off against Sam Katz, his white Republican rival. 
While race again was a significant factor in the campaign, Dr. Kraus finds 
that partisan loyalty in this overwhelmingly Democratic city was the key 
to converting Street’s narrow win in 1999 into a massive re-election 
victory four years later. 

 
Shifting the focus from politics in the Keystone State to public policy, 

Drs. Marsha Weinraub, Anne B. Shlay, and Anita T. Kochanoff present a 
wealth of data on the demographic variations among families in the use of 
early childhood care and education in Pennsylvania. Regrettably, their 
findings show that our state has ranked low in the provision of such 
crucial programs. Improving the delivery of these services is imperative, 
particularly in the wake of the controversial No Child Left Behind law, 
which bases the allocation of federal education funds upon student 
performance on standardized tests. 

 
Before closing, let me note that this is the first issue of 

COMMONWEALTH to be published under the auspices of Pennsylvania’s 
Legislative Office for Research Liaison (LORL), the nonpartisan technical 
research arm of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives with which the 
Pennsylvania Political Science Association formed a mutually beneficial 
partnership in 2004. As a result of its association with LORL, 
COMMONWEALTH has widened its focus on Pennsylvania government 
and policy, expanded its distribution network, and reduced its operating 
costs. We also expect to publish more frequently than we have in recent 
years. 

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Two seasoned members of the support staff of the state legislature 
deserve special credit and recognition for arranging this new relationship: 
Michael Cassidy, Executive Director of the Office of the House 
Democratic Caucus Chairman and Michael King, Executive Director of 
LORL. Scholars as well as public servants, they not only facilitated the 
union of COMMONWEALTH and LORL but they also have provided 
invaluable assistance over the years toward the annual meetings of the 
Pennsylvania Political Science Association. Thanks to the indefatigable 
efforts of “the two Mikes,” both PPSA and COMMONWEALTH have a 
bright future. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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