This article seeks to enhance the limited research dedicated to local school board elections by investigating whether Pennsylvania school board members are recruited candidates or are self-starters. The article also investigates which kinds of organizations are the most active sources of candidate recruitment and engagement in Pennsylvania school board races and which organizations are the most and least influential in local school board politics. Using a unique dataset obtained through the statewide Pennsylvania School Board Survey and interviews with current state legislators who began their political careers as local school board members, this article finds that local political party organizations play a larger than expected role in influencing local school board elections and recruiting candidates. Board members themselves are also found to be highly engaged in political party activity within their communities before ever seeking office. Also explored are the implications of these findings for school board politics and the discipline’s view of local party organizations.
{"title":"All Politics Is Organizational: An Analysis of Candidate Recruitment and Political Influence in Pennsylvania School Board Elections","authors":"Nathan R. Shrader","doi":"10.15367/com.v19i2.154","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v19i2.154","url":null,"abstract":"This article seeks to enhance the limited research dedicated to local school board elections by investigating whether Pennsylvania school board members are recruited candidates or are self-starters. The article also investigates which kinds of organizations are the most active sources of candidate recruitment and engagement in Pennsylvania school board races and which organizations are the most and least influential in local school board politics. Using a unique dataset obtained through the statewide Pennsylvania School Board Survey and interviews with current state legislators who began their political careers as local school board members, this article finds that local political party organizations play a larger than expected role in influencing local school board elections and recruiting candidates. Board members themselves are also found to be highly engaged in political party activity within their communities before ever seeking office. Also explored are the implications of these findings for school board politics and the discipline’s view of local party organizations.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":"386 4-6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41291423","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Berwood A. Yost, Jackie Redman, Scottie L Thompson
This article uses pre-election survey data, post-election survey data, and voter registration and election data to interpret the outcomes of the 2016 presidential and U.S. Senate races in Pennsylvania. This analysis shows how changes in voter registration and voter turnout in specific areas of the Commonwealth, driven in large part by less-educated voters, those dissatisfied with the current direction of the country, and the performance of the incumbent president, explain the 2016 election results.
{"title":"The 2016 Pennsylvania Presidential and U.S. Senate Elections: Breaking Pennsylvania’s Electoral Habits","authors":"Berwood A. Yost, Jackie Redman, Scottie L Thompson","doi":"10.15367/COM.V19I2.152","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/COM.V19I2.152","url":null,"abstract":"This article uses pre-election survey data, post-election survey data, and voter registration and election data to interpret the outcomes of the 2016 presidential and U.S. Senate races in Pennsylvania. This analysis shows how changes in voter registration and voter turnout in specific areas of the Commonwealth, driven in large part by less-educated voters, those dissatisfied with the current direction of the country, and the performance of the incumbent president, explain the 2016 election results.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47024202","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
While other states have continued to add wind turbines in recent years, there has been no new wind development in Pennsylvania since 2012. This article considers how state energy policy as well as local land-use policies related to wind energy compare with other states as a way to understand how these policies may be impacting wind development in the Keystone State, especially in light of the geographical characteristics of the state’s highest quality winds.
{"title":"Wind Development in Pennsylvania: A Reflection on State Policy","authors":"Sarah B. Mills","doi":"10.15367/COM.V19I1.134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/COM.V19I1.134","url":null,"abstract":"While other states have continued to add wind turbines in recent years, there has been no new wind development in Pennsylvania since 2012. This article considers how state energy policy as well as local land-use policies related to wind energy compare with other states as a way to understand how these policies may be impacting wind development in the Keystone State, especially in light of the geographical characteristics of the state’s highest quality winds.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44740817","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nearly all energy-producing states elect to adopt and sustain a tax on the extraction of their oil and gas resources through so-called severance taxes, generating significant revenue for general as well as specialized state funds. Political support for such taxes generally crosses party lines and endures across multiple partisan shifts in the political control of a state. This reflects numerous features that tend to make these taxes quite popular and durable across election cycles. This long-standing pattern, however, faces one major exception: Pennsylvania’s enduring reluctance to follow the path of other major energy-producing states and adopt such a tax. This article explores what it deems “Pennsylvania exceptionalism,” as it seeks to address the issue of why one leading energy-producing state would refrain from tax adoption in contrast to every other such state. It places particular emphasis on the past decade, in which natural gas in shale deposits has triggered a dramatic expansion of production in Pennsylvania and ongoing political controversy over whether or not a severance tax should be adopted.
{"title":"Leaving Money on the Table: Pennsylvania Exceptionalism in Resisting Energy Severance Taxes","authors":"R. Hampton, B. Rabe","doi":"10.15367/COM.V19I1.131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/COM.V19I1.131","url":null,"abstract":"Nearly all energy-producing states elect to adopt and sustain a tax on the extraction of their oil and gas resources through so-called severance taxes, generating significant revenue for general as well as specialized state funds. Political support for such taxes generally crosses party lines and endures across multiple partisan shifts in the political control of a state. This reflects numerous features that tend to make these taxes quite popular and durable across election cycles. This long-standing pattern, however, faces one major exception: Pennsylvania’s enduring reluctance to follow the path of other major energy-producing states and adopt such a tax. This article explores what it deems “Pennsylvania exceptionalism,” as it seeks to address the issue of why one leading energy-producing state would refrain from tax adoption in contrast to every other such state. It places particular emphasis on the past decade, in which natural gas in shale deposits has triggered a dramatic expansion of production in Pennsylvania and ongoing political controversy over whether or not a severance tax should be adopted.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49395092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The challenges of including factual information in public policy and political discussions are many. The difficulties of including scientific facts in these debates can often be frustrating for scientists, politicians and policymakers alike. At times it seems that discussions involve different languages or dialects such that it becomes a challenge to even understand one another’s position. Oftentimes difference of opinion leads to laws and regulations that are tilted to the left or the right. The collaborative balancing to insure public and natural resource interests are protected ends up being accomplished through extensive litigation in the courts. In this article, the author discusses the history of environmental balancing during the past three decades from the perspective of a field biologist who has used the strength of our policies, laws and regulations to fight for the protection of our Commonwealth’s aquatic resources. For the past 7 years, the author has taken over the reins of “the most powerful environmental agency in Pennsylvania” and charted a course using science to properly represent natural resource interests in public policy and political deliberations.
{"title":"COMMONWEALTH Forum: The Politics of Science or the Science of Politics","authors":"J. Arway","doi":"10.15367/com.v19i1.136","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v19i1.136","url":null,"abstract":"The challenges of including factual information in public policy and political discussions are many. The difficulties of including scientific facts in these debates can often be frustrating for scientists, politicians and policymakers alike. At times it seems that discussions involve different languages or dialects such that it becomes a challenge to even understand one another’s position. Oftentimes difference of opinion leads to laws and regulations that are tilted to the left or the right. The collaborative balancing to insure public and natural resource interests are protected ends up being accomplished through extensive litigation in the courts. In this article, the author discusses the history of environmental balancing during the past three decades from the perspective of a field biologist who has used the strength of our policies, laws and regulations to fight for the protection of our Commonwealth’s aquatic resources. For the past 7 years, the author has taken over the reins of “the most powerful environmental agency in Pennsylvania” and charted a course using science to properly represent natural resource interests in public policy and political deliberations.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48551655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pennsylvania is one of a number of U.S. states that provide incentives for the generation of electricity by solar energy through Solar Renewal Energy Credits (SRECs). This article develops a return on investment model for solar energy generation in the PJM (mid-Atlantic) region of the United States. Model results indicate that SREC values of roughly $150 are needed for residential scale systems to break even over a 25-year project period at 3% interest. Market prices for SRECs in Pennsylvania have been well below this range from late 2011 through the first half of 2016, indicating that previous capital investments in solar generation have been stranded as a result of steep declines in the value of SRECs. A simple conceptual supply and demand model is developed to explain the sharp decline in market prices for SRECs. Also discussed is a possible policy remedy that would add unsold SRECs in a given year to the SREC quota for the subsequent year.
{"title":"Solar Renewable Energy Credit Price Volatility and Investment Returns: Have Policies Stranded Capital Investment?","authors":"S. Youssefi, P. Gurian","doi":"10.15367/COM.V19I1.135","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/COM.V19I1.135","url":null,"abstract":"Pennsylvania is one of a number of U.S. states that provide incentives for the generation of electricity by solar energy through Solar Renewal Energy Credits (SRECs). This article develops a return on investment model for solar energy generation in the PJM (mid-Atlantic) region of the United States. Model results indicate that SREC values of roughly $150 are needed for residential scale systems to break even over a 25-year project period at 3% interest. Market prices for SRECs in Pennsylvania have been well below this range from late 2011 through the first half of 2016, indicating that previous capital investments in solar generation have been stranded as a result of steep declines in the value of SRECs. A simple conceptual supply and demand model is developed to explain the sharp decline in market prices for SRECs. Also discussed is a possible policy remedy that would add unsold SRECs in a given year to the SREC quota for the subsequent year.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47734490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article presents survey results from 2013 to 2016 that show an increase in public awareness of fracking in Pennsylvania. It suggests that the increased awareness of fracking is due to the expansion of the industry in the Commonwealth, lowered gas prices, and increased political discussion following the 2014 gubernatorial race and that it is also part of a national trend. Results of a Pennsylvania survey and three national surveys show opinions split along gender and partisan lines.
{"title":"Raised Awareness of Fracking in Pennsylvania","authors":"Philip J. Harold, T. Kerzmann","doi":"10.15367/com.v19i1.132","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v19i1.132","url":null,"abstract":"This article presents survey results from 2013 to 2016 that show an increase in public awareness of fracking in Pennsylvania. It suggests that the increased awareness of fracking is due to the expansion of the industry in the Commonwealth, lowered gas prices, and increased political discussion following the 2014 gubernatorial race and that it is also part of a national trend. Results of a Pennsylvania survey and three national surveys show opinions split along gender and partisan lines.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48040246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
“An Introduction to the Special to the Special Issue on Energy and the Environment” provides an overview of the state of the literature relating to Pennsylvania in these areas of public policy. It then introduces each of the articles in this issue of the journal.
{"title":"An Introduction to the Special Issue on Energy and the Environment","authors":"Christopher Borick","doi":"10.15367/COM.V19I1.130","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/COM.V19I1.130","url":null,"abstract":"“An Introduction to the Special to the Special Issue on Energy and the Environment” provides an overview of the state of the literature relating to Pennsylvania in these areas of public policy. It then introduces each of the articles in this issue of the journal.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47339321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study compares public perceptions of shale gas extraction and hydraulic fracturing in two of the most populous states with significant shale gas reserves but with vastly different approaches to developing this resource. Drawing on data from a comparative survey administered to two statewide samples in Pennsylvania (n = 411) and New York (n = 404), the study examines the correlates of support for hydraulic fracturing, as well as general levels of public awareness, and perceptions of effects of hydraulic fracturing within the Marcellus shale play. Though the level of awareness of the fracking issue among residents of Pennsylvania and New York is found to be similarly high, levels of support for fracking differ, mirroring distinctive policy approaches found in these neighboring states. The correlates of support for fracking include being Republican, having a conservative ideology, and being male. The study also finds that residents of New York are more aware of fracking policy and debate in Pennsylvania than vice versa, with many New York residents perceiving negative effects on their home state as a result of fracking in neighboring Pennsylvania. This asymmetric level of awareness and concern raises new questions on the role of cross-border perceptions in shaping opinion toward hydraulic fracturing in adjacent states.
{"title":"The Great Divide: Public Perceptions of Shale Gas Extraction and Hydraulic Fracturing in Pennsylvania and New York","authors":"E. Lachapelle","doi":"10.15367/COM.V19I1.133","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/COM.V19I1.133","url":null,"abstract":"This study compares public perceptions of shale gas extraction and hydraulic fracturing in two of the most populous states with significant shale gas reserves but with vastly different approaches to developing this resource. Drawing on data from a comparative survey administered to two statewide samples in Pennsylvania (n = 411) and New York (n = 404), the study examines the correlates of support for hydraulic fracturing, as well as general levels of public awareness, and perceptions of effects of hydraulic fracturing within the Marcellus shale play. Though the level of awareness of the fracking issue among residents of Pennsylvania and New York is found to be similarly high, levels of support for fracking differ, mirroring distinctive policy approaches found in these neighboring states. The correlates of support for fracking include being Republican, having a conservative ideology, and being male. The study also finds that residents of New York are more aware of fracking policy and debate in Pennsylvania than vice versa, with many New York residents perceiving negative effects on their home state as a result of fracking in neighboring Pennsylvania. This asymmetric level of awareness and concern raises new questions on the role of cross-border perceptions in shaping opinion toward hydraulic fracturing in adjacent states.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43958246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-11-28DOI: 10.15367/CJPPP.V18I2.118
J. Kennedy
Since the first presidential primary was held in Pennsylvania in the spring of 1912, rarely has the state truly impacted the race. A combination of forces, notably the rather late date that it has traditionally been scheduled relative to other states has all but guaranteed that the presumptive nominees of the Democratic and Republican Parties have long ago been selected. As long as this remains the case, it’s difficult to imagine the state’s voters ever being able to winnow a field of candidates, no matter how large or small it is. However, on rare occasions, the lateness of the Pennsylvania’s primary election allows the state’s voters to be one, if not the deciding force on who lays final claim to the nomination. Such was the case on April 24, 2016, when Pennsylvanians essentially settled the contest on both sides, elevating Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump toward their ultimate nominations.
{"title":"Sometimes It Does Matter: The 2016 Presidential Primary Election in Pennsylvania","authors":"J. Kennedy","doi":"10.15367/CJPPP.V18I2.118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/CJPPP.V18I2.118","url":null,"abstract":"Since the first presidential primary was held in Pennsylvania in the spring of 1912, rarely has the state truly impacted the race. A combination of forces, notably the rather late date that it has traditionally been scheduled relative to other states has all but guaranteed that the presumptive nominees of the Democratic and Republican Parties have long ago been selected. As long as this remains the case, it’s difficult to imagine the state’s voters ever being able to winnow a field of candidates, no matter how large or small it is. However, on rare occasions, the lateness of the Pennsylvania’s primary election allows the state’s voters to be one, if not the deciding force on who lays final claim to the nomination. Such was the case on April 24, 2016, when Pennsylvanians essentially settled the contest on both sides, elevating Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump toward their ultimate nominations.","PeriodicalId":80972,"journal":{"name":"Commonweal (New York, N.Y.)","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-11-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66994660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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