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The president of the State Politics and Policy section of the American Political Science Association, Richard Niemi, announces the formation of a search committee to solicit proposals for a new editor or editorial team for State Politics and Policy Quarterly. A highly qualified person or team of persons is sought for a four-year term beginning in 2010 to edit SPPQ issues 11:1-14:4 (Spring 2011 to Winter 2014). Nominations as well as proposals are encouraged.

About State Politics and Policy Quarterly:
First published in 2001, SPPQ is the official journal of the State Politics and Policy section of the APSA. It is a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal publishing high quality academic studies that develop general hypotheses of political behavior, institutions, and policymaking and test these hypotheses using the unique methodological advantages of the states.  SPPQ has developed an impeccable reputation for attracting and developing top-quality scholarship through superior editorial service to authors. It is carried by 13 abstracting and indexing services, including the Social Science Citation Index; JSTOR inclusion is pending.

The current editors are Thad Kousser of University of California, San Diego, Ronald Weber of the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and Richard Winters of Dartmouth College.  An associate editor, Nancy Martorano of the University of Dayton, is responsible for soliciting and reviewing manuscripts for The Practical Researcher section of SPPQ and developing and maintaining the SPPQ Data Resource website.

In addition to the journal, SPPQ has cosponsored the annual State Politics and Policy Conferences since their inception in 2001.  SPPQ also sponsors an annual best paper award given at the annual meeting of the State Politics and Policy section at each year's meeting of the APSA. The editor has some relatively minor responsibilities regarding these activities. SPPQ's editors have historically worked closely with APSA's State Politics and Policy section in a variety other ways that have been mutually beneficial for the journal and the section. The section is a vibrant and growing unit of the APSA, currently with approximately 450 members. For more information on the section, see:
www.olemiss.edu/depts/political_science/state_politics/index.htm.

Owned by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois and published by the University of Illinois Press, SPPQ's business office is housed in the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Prospective editors can contact SPPQ's business manager, Chris Mooney (see contact information below), for more information about the journal financial status. 

Information for Prospective Editors:
The new editor will have complete editorial responsibility for SPPQ, within the journal's established guidelines. He or she can expect to review 75-100 manuscripts per year, publishing 16-20 articles (including those in The Practical Research section of SPPQ). Soliciting and developing promising manuscripts are among the editor's most important responsibilities.

The editor's home institution is expected to provide, at minimum:

• Course release time for the editor (preferably, the editor would
  teach no more than 1-1);
• a 12-month graduate assistant; and
• minimal postage and stationery supplies.

The precise timing of the takeover of editorial duties and other business arrangements are subject to negotiation, but the tentative date for the new editor to begin receiving new manuscripts is June 1, 2010.

Search Committee:

• Christopher Z. Mooney, University of Illinois at Springfield, cmoon1@uis.edu
• Virginia Gray, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, vagray@email.unc.edu
  Kerry Haynie, Duke University, klhaynie@duke.edu
• Jan Leighley, University of Arizona, leighley@email.arizona.edu
• Kenneth J. Meier, Texas A&M University, kmeier@polisci.tamu.edu
• Richard Niemi, University of Rochester, niemi@rochester.edu
• Ronald Weber, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, rweber@uwm.edu
• Richard Winters, Dartmouth College, rfw@dartmouth.edu

To Apply (Deadline is November 15, 2009):
Candidates should email (as PDF attachments) the following to the chair of the search committee (cmoon1@uis.edu) by November 15, 2009:

• A letter of interest explaining the candidate's relevant
  experience, goals for the journal, ideas for innovations or changes (if any), and a discussion of the resource support to be provided by his or her home institution, and
• A current curriculum vita.

Nominations and Questions:
If you wish to nominate a person to serve as editor or if you have questions about the journal or the position of editor, please contact the chair of the search committee:

Christopher Z. Mooney
University of Illinois at Springfield, PAC 451
One University Plaza
Springfield, IL  62703-5406
cmoon1@uis.edu
Tel: (217) 206-6573
Fax: (217) 206-7397