WHEN COMMONWEALTH MAGAZINE arrived on the scene 20 years ago, Barbara Anderson’s most public battles were already behind her. It was in that context that founding editor Dave Denison paid […]
Dave Denison
Posted inPolitics
Reality sets in
As a candidate, Deval Patrick was highlysuccessful without “listening to the experts.”AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki.On a Friday afternoon in early November 2006, I went to the office of Michael Dukakis, deep […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics
Cost unconscious
On a Wednesday afternoon in late April, I went to the John W. McCormack state office building, a pillar of bureaucracy a half-block east of the State House, and found […]
Posted inHealth Care
Tough medicine
Photo by Frank Curran As of April 12, 2006, Jonathan Gruber became the most influential economist in Massachusetts government. That was the day Gov. Mitt Romney signed a sweeping health […]
Posted inPolitics
Recipe for success
shortly after the polls closed on election night, November 7, it was clear that voters from all around Massachusetts had turned out in droves to elect Democrat Deval Patrick as […]
Posted inUncategorized
The Last Harrumph
PREFACE.This is my last issue as editor of CommonWealth. It was my intention, believe it or not, to go out with something light and lively in this space. I wanted […]
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West Springfield and Southampton
WEST SPRINGFIELD — Every town has one — the captious critic who angrily insists that local government is being run by a band of incompetents. Most often the gadfly is […]
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Sissela Bok on Violence Entertainment and the Nations Youth
Is the American entertainment industry allergic to ethical reflection about its use of violent images? If so, what might the effects be on the nation’s youth? Such questions have become […]
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A Visit With David Driscoll
The first day of September was looking pretty good for Education Commissioner David Driscoll. As he sat that afternoon in the conference room adjoining his office, he could see something […]
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Green Developments
One of the most popular political ideas going around these days is that we can boom and bloom at the same time. We can have economic growth and development without […]
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Hot Summer Reading
Gov. Paul Cellucci and his old friend Bob Durand popped into the Beacon Hill headquarters of the Appalachian Mountain Club earlier this year for a brief ceremony celebrating Durand’s appointment […]
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Fouling The Waters
By Massachusetts law, Spy Pond is defined as a “Great Pond.” But to those who are well acquainted with the pond, it’s not as great as it used to be. […]
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An environmentalist in the city
An environmentalist in the city Not so many years ago, Gregory Watson learned more than he ever thought he’d need to know about dairy farming. As commissioner of the Massachusetts […]
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A Visit with Armando Carbonell
Few people know the practical, ground-level challenges of land-use planning–especially in a place like Cape Cod–as well as Armando Carbonell. A resident of Barnstable, Carbonell was the executive director of […]
Posted inEconomy
Economist Juliet B Schor on the Maxedout Middle Class
With the publication of The Overworked American in 1992, Harvard economist Juliet B. Schor became part of the tiny company of left-wing economists who have found a wide national audience. […]
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Our Frame Work
Every once in a while, I wonder whether CommonWealth magazine is one of the most backward-looking publications produced today. They say it’s possible to be so square you become hip, […]
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Labor Stories
When it comes to work, everyone’s got a story. Or, more likely, many stories. If you want to hear a tale, all you have to do is ask, “What was […]
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Remembering Wessagussett
WEYMOUTH — The land isn’t much to look at, as even Jodi Purdy-Quinlan, the most ardent champion of these overgrown woodsy acres, will admit. “All this brush would have to […]
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What to Do About the Poor
“It’s 1834 in the town of Sturbridge,” announces moderator Jim O’Brien from the podium at the front of the Center Meeting House. Actually, it’s a cool October night in 1998 […]
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Articles of Faith
Faith and politics mix in fascinating and sometimes fruitful ways. People of religious faith can bring moral uplift into the sometimes tawdry world of politics, and people of political faith […]
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The Harshbarger Administration Well Never Know
“We’ll see if he’s going loony left.” – House Speaker Thomas Finneran, Sept. 16, 1998, when asked if he would be endorsing Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, the Democratic candidate for […]
Posted inUncategorized
Will Massachusetts Have Clean Elections
Events of 1998 proved that Massachusetts voters do not agree with their elected officials on the role of money in politics. A proposed “Clean Elections” law calling for public financing […]
Posted inEducation
Education, Religion, and Prayer
There are many quiet, noncontroversial, apolitical members of the clergy in Massachusetts–but the Rev. Eugene Rivers is not one of them. As one of the founders of Boston’s Ten Point […]