Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce a watershed event for the Public Policy Section. Beginning this fall, the Public Policy Section and the Policy Studies Organization will co-produce the Policy Studies Journal. Hank Jenkins-Smith, Professor of Public Policy at the Bush School at Texas A&M and a past president of the Public Policy Section, has agreed to serve as editor-in-chief.

This new arrangement will involve no increase in the membership dues of Public Policy Section members. It was officially approved by the Executive Council of the APSA on April 5, 2003 and has also been approved by the Governing Council of the Public Policy Section.

Under the old regime, the only way to subscribe to the Policy Studies Journal was to join the Policy Studies Organization and receive both the Policy Studies Journal and the Review of Policy Research. Under the new regime, Public Policy Section members may purchase the Policy Studies Journal without purchasing the other journal.

Blackwell Publishing has kindly agreed to offer an introductory rate of $20 per year to encourage you to subscribe to the reconstituted Policy Studies Journal. This attractive offer will become effective January 1, 2004, and additional details will be announced in August or September of this year.

The new journal, unlike its predecessor, has an explicit mission: to publish theoretically-oriented, empirically-grounded public policy research of high quality.

With vigorous editorial leadership and the backing of both the APSA’s Public Policy Section and the Policy Studies Organization, we expect the Policy Studies Journal to become the leading venue for public policy research written by political scientists. But much will depend on you: your willingness to submit your best work to the journal; your willingness to review manuscripts for the journal; and your willingness to subscribe to the new journal.

Professor Jenkins-Smith will assume his responsibilities as editor on September 1, 2003. Until that time, you are welcome to send manuscripts to Professor Harrell Rodgers of the University of Houston, who has kindly agreed to serve as interim editor during the transition period. He can be reached at: Hrod77030@aol.com.

In closing, I would like to thank a number of people who helped to make this co-production arrangement possible: Paul Rich, president, and Harrell Rodgers, vice-president of the Policy Studies Organization; Malcolm Crystal, senior journals editor for Blackwell Publishing; Mark Schneider of SUNY-Stony Brook, who chaired the committee to find a new editor, and the hard-working members of his committee; Michael Brintnall, executive director of the APSA; and members of the Public Policy Section Governing Council, who offered good advice and support. Most of all, I would like to thank Hank Jenkins-Smith for his leap of faith, which I hope will be matched by smaller leaps of faith by each and every one of us.

Best,

Bill Gormley, President

Public Policy Section, APSA