Associate Professor J. Wesley Leckrone Co-Edits Book on Pennsylvania Politics and Policy
Associate Professor J. Wesley Leckrone, chair of Widener University’s political science department, has co-edited “Pennsylvania Politics and Policy: A Commonwealth Reader Volume 2,” a book that explores important issues in Pennsylvania politics in a constructive, nonpartisan manner.
Leckrone, and Michelle J. Atherton, associate director of both the Temple University Institute for Public Affairs and the Temple University Center on Regional Politics, designed the book to showcase current issues of interest and to update chapters from recent issues of “Commonwealth: A Journal of Pennsylvania Politics and Policy.” Leckrone is editor of the journal, and Atherton is managing editor.
The editors and contributors focus on government institutions, election laws, the judiciary, government finance and budgeting, the opioid crisis, childcare, property taxes, environmental policy, demographics, and more. Each chapter is supplemented by discussion questions, suggestions for further reading, and forums with arguments in support of or opposed to contested elements of state policy.
In addition, the book includes a detailed guide to researching state government and policy online, as well as a comprehensive chapter on the structure of Pennsylvania government. 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.
One of the chapters, titled “Party Identification, Voter Attitudes, and Voter Behavior in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 1980-2012: Real Difference or Election Law Mirage?” was written by Widener University Professor James Vike, who directs the Masters of Public Administration program.
The text was published by Temple University Press and is available for purchase online.
Leckrone resides in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from American University, a master’s degree in American history from Temple University, and a doctoral degree in political science from Temple University.
