Message from the Editor

Several domestic and foreign policy issues figure to play a prominent role in this year's presidential debates. In domestic policy, educational and health care reforms appear near the top of the national agenda. In foreign affairs, traditional policies toward China and Cuba appear particularly ripe for reexamination. We offer this special presidential election issue of the RAND Review as a modest contribution toward informing the debates on these and other issues.

We say modest, because RAND research can neither foresee nor address all of the campaign issues that may suddenly erupt and eventually sway the vote this year. Our scope of work has not included research, for example, on capital punishment, prayer in public schools, or the price of gasoline--all of which have commanded more attention than usual this campaign season.

But we can speak to the array of issues outlined here. And we can offer recommendations to help all political parties formulate cogent platforms and help all political candidates premise their arguments on a solid foundation of reliable information. If the information in these pages can strengthen the debate across the political spectrum, then the public will be served no matter who wins the election.

--John Godges

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AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS/
KEN BENNETT

Wait Chapel on the campus of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., will be the site on Oct. 11, 2000, of one of three nationally televised presidential debates.

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