1999 Commonwealth.max 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.