A Commonwealth Reader
Edited by J. Wesley Leckrone and Michelle J. AthertonThe activities of state governments have always been important in the American federal system. However, recent partisan gridlock in Washington, DC has placed states at the forefront of policymaking as the national government maintains the status quo. Pennsylvania Politics and Policy, Volume 1 is designed to showcase current issues of interest to Pennsylvanians. This reader contains updated chapters from recent issues of Commonwealth: A Journal of Pennsylvania Politics and Policy on education, health care, public finance, tax policy, environmental policy, alcohol policy and more. Each chapter is supplemented by forums with arguments in support of or opposed to contested elements of state policy, discussion questions, and suggestions for further reading.
In addition, Pennsylvania Politics and Policy, Volume 1 includes a comprehensive guide to researching state government and policy online. It is designed as a text or supplement for college or advanced high school classes in American government, state and local politics, public policy, and public administration.
Contributors include: David G. Argall, Tom Baldino, Michele Deegan, Michael Dimino, William A. Fischel, George Hale, Rachel L. Hampton , Paula Duda Holoviak Jon Hopcraft, Vera Krekanova, Maureen W. McClure, Barry G. Rabe, Marguerite Roza, Lanethea Mathews Shultz, Jennie Sweet-Cushman,
Amanda Warco, and the editors.
“Pennsylvania Politics and Policy is a tremendous contribution to the literature on politics in the Keystone State and a wonderful resource for courses on state and local government in general. The articles explore an array of salient policy issues through rigorous scholarship, providing valuable insight and context regarding contemporary governance debates in Pennsylvania. The volume effectively integrates examinations of structural and institutional challenges in the Commonwealth with well-developed explorations of policy areas that are at the forefront of state politics in Pennsylvania and beyond.”—Chris Borick, Muhlenberg College Professor of Political Science, and Director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion
“More political science and public policy students are gravitating towards state and local issues. They sense they can have greater impact in their careers closer to home rather than in Washington, D.C. This reader is full of policy and political challenges offering substance for solid exercises for discussion, study and analysis of state and local issues. While Pennsylvania is the reader’s arena, its application to the state and local domain is universal. A copious resource…put it to work for your students!”
—Rick Stafford, Distinguished Service Professor of Public Policy, H. John Heinz III College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University
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