The advent of e-rulemaking raised concerns that regulatory agencies could become deluged if interest groups mobilized supporters to submit a high volume of comments electronically. This study examines the sources of comments on 56 proposed rules by the U,S, Environmental Protection Agency over the decade that the agency began to solicit comments through electronic dockets. The analysis finds that comments submitted by regulated industries greatly outnumber those from other individuals and groups before and after e-commenting became common, E-rulemaking was associated with an increase in the volume of public comments overall, and the proportion of private citizen comments increased. With few exceptions, industry continued to provide the majority of comments. Mass comment campaigns by interest groups were evident in only three of the cases,

Female candidates sometimes are discouraged from negative campaigning because they would risk voter backlash by defying gender stereotypes. In this experiment, a negative television campaign advertisement was manipulated to control for the candidate's gender, issue content, and the character traits emphasized in the narration. The female candidate's support was not diminished because of the attack upon her opponent. The findings show that in low-information contests, female candidates are assumed to be weaker on "male" issues. However, when the female candidate used a "male" issue as the basis of an attack upon her male opponent, she was judged more competent on the issue. This suggests that negative advertising could be an effective tool to neutralize the disadvantages caused by gender stereotypes.

This article analyzes whether the move from direct government regulatory control of air pollution to the adoption of the Los Angeles RECLAIM (Regional Clean Air Incentives Market) emissions trading system, a more private form of air quality management, has indeed resulted in greater effectiveness and efficiency in an equitable and democratic manner as promised. The study begins with a brief description of RECLAIM and federal SO2 emissions trading programs. The study then analyzes the concepts of effectiveness and efficiency in policy implementation and addresses whether the RECLAIM emissions trading scheme has been, as promised, effective and efficient. This is followed by an investigation of whether the RECLAIM system is equitable and democratic, both of which are concerns of those who are opposed to the adoption of emissions trading. Evidence from the SO2 emissions trading program is also introduced at certain points in the analysis. The implications of the study's findings are reviewed at the end of the article.

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