Microsoft Word - journal commonwealth 2007 FINAL 0307.doc 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 xiii “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. xiv 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. xv