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1999 Commonwealth.max

In the COMMONWEALTH 

Thomas J. Baldino, Editor 

All good things come to he who waits, some wise person once said. It 
seems that the subscribers of COMMONWEALTH should adopt this 
aphorism. Some 14 months since its last publication, the latest edition of 
COM1vI.ONWEALTH took a rather tortuous path to print. Initially, there 
was a dearth of quality manuscripts submitted for publication after the 
last volume appeared. In the spring, I received the resignation of my valued 
managing editor, Jim Morse. (1 want to express publicly my sincere thanks 
and appreciation to Jim for his dedication and excellent work on behalf of 
the journal over many years. Without his patience and stamina, a few 
issues of COM1vI.ONWEALTH might not have ever seen the light of day.) 
After some searching and pleading, I convinced a colleague at Wilkes, 
Harold Cox, editor of the Wilkes University Press, to assume the managing 
editor position, and things (ooked bright again. But then came a series of 
computer viruses and crashes that further complicated matters. With some 
luck and the cooperation of my family, lost material was reconstructed 
over several weeks, and an absent husband and father reemerged with a 
journal. I can only hope that you find the product worth the wail. 

In this issue, we are fortunate to present three articles that focus directly 
on Pennsylvania government and politics, which may be something of a 
record for the journal. The two other articles provide a kind of bookends 
to American politics of the last two hundred plus years, 

In the lead article, Dr. James Yoho examines the role of interest groups 
in pre and post revolutionary America. His study reveals the importance 
of interest groups to the revolutionary movement as well as their critical 
involvement in the ratification of the constitution of 1787. He ultimately 
concludes that interest groups would have developed in the new nation 
but perhaps not as quickly had there not been a revolution and push for 
a new constitution to replace the Articles. 

From the past to the present, and perhaps the future, the reader is 
invited by Dr, Gerard Fitzpatrick to consider the application of the First 
Amendment to material published in cyberspace, a.k.a. The Web. Is it 
possible to take the First Amendment and the Supreme Court's case law, 
developed over two hundred years, and use these to settle disputes 
involving press freedom, particularly material deemed by some to be 
obscene? His view is that cyberpublications require a different legal 
framework, especially for "cybersmut." 

The first article in the section on Pennsylvania Research is by Dr. 
Stephanie Greco Larson. Her work is a empirical analysis of the campaign 



1999 Commonwealth.max

literature employed by men and women running for the Pennsylvania 
General Assembly in 1996 to determine if differences exist between the 
sexes. Using a content analysis of campaign brochures, Dr. Larson 
explored the issues raised by the caml.idates, the traits that they highlight, 
and the types of attacks employed by the men and the women. She also 
controlled for incumbency, party, and whether the candidate won or lost. 
Her findings are most interesting. 

The second article by Dr. Paula A. Duda is a case study of the 
application of a re!:'julatory mechanism called regulation negotiation. In 
this study; Dr. Duda was an observer as the Pennsylvania Department of 
Environmental Protection attempted to use this technique in enforcing 
the Special Protection Water Program. Applying theory to the case study; 
Dr. Duda concludes her analysis with a number of recommendations for 
how to improve the rule making and rule implementation process using 
regulation negotiation. 

The last article is really an extended bibliographic essay Dr. Jospph 
Marbach compiled this materialtto serve as a guide to students and 
teachers of Pennsylvania government and politics. He includes all three 
branches of state government as well as local governments, the media, 
and interest groups, among other things. It is hoped that our readers 
will find this a most helpful source of information. 

Finally; I take this opportunity to announce publicly my resignation 
as editor of COMMONWEALTH. Having served the PPSA and the journal 
for over ten year;; and publishing four volumes (including this one) as 
editor-in-chief over the last five years, I felt that it was time to move on. 
I have thoroughly enjoyed this experience, and I have learllf~d a 8rPat 
deal. Interacting with so many talented authors and reviewers is truly 
stimulating. I will miss it. But every journal needs new blood, fresh 
ideas, aHd perhaps a different perspective from time to time; by my 
assessment, this is the appropriate time for COMMONWEALTH to have 
its transfusion. After consulting with Don Tannenbaum, the founding 
father of the journal, and members of the executive council, the editorship 
was extended to Gerard Fitzpatrick, and he graciously accepted. I hope 
thal he ded ves at; much satisfaction from his work with the journal as I 
have. Authors should send all future manuscripts to: 

Dr. Gerard Fitzpatrick 
Department of Politics 
Ursinus College 
Collegeville, PA 19426 

Any manuscripts that have already been accepted for publication will 
be published in the next volume, and I will retain responsibility for any 
manuscripts submitted to me to ensure that they are properly reviewed. 


