John C. Thomas: El Salvador, 43; Albania, 60; East Germany, 63; U.S.S.R., 67
John Wang: Kenya, 96
Bruce Weitzman: Iran, 77
Mary Welfling:

Ireland, 05; Burma, 50; Cambodia, 51; Ghana, 81; Upper Volta, 87; Central African Republic, 91; Kenya, 96; Uganda, 98

Karen Wolfson: United States, 00

The work of these individuals was later reviewed by country experts (identified in Table 2.2), whose assistance was invaluable and is deeply appreciated.

Although he is not listed for contributions to any specific country, Michael Ward merits recognition for his research on many countries in assessing patterns of party support for calculating the attraction, concentration, and reflection scores. Suzanne Pelly also devoted effort to solving the attraction-concentration measurement problem--as witnessed by the relevant computer program named in her honor. Previously, Farid Lavipour at the Foreign Policy Research Institute tested my ideas and processed data on party support.

The computer problems encountered in this research were challenging in many ways. Lynn Doscher at the University of Essex was of major assistance in developing some techniques of data analysis. But, without the information retrieval programs developed at Northwestern University and the personal attention to my needs given by Lorraine Borman, Peter Kron, Donald Dillaman, James Tuccy, Chip Hay, Betty Benson, Gerald Jerr, Tom Knox, and Melvin Schwartz, this volume would never have been published in its present form.

Difficulties of library research during the early phases of the project were no less formidable. Without the assistance and cooperation offered willingly by Marjorie Carpenter, Hans Panofsky, Noel Owens, Steve Marek, John McCowan, and many others who helped all along the way, the project surely would have foundered at the start.

Because of the invaluable cooperation I encountered at the Northwestern University Library and Vogelback Computing Center in fashioning this blend of library research and computer analysis, it is entirely fitting that this volume be dedicated to the staffs of both organizations. I do not think that I could have done the project at any institution other than Northwestern.

The work-study staff within the Department of Political Science helped give birth to this book during its last convulsive phases. Debbie Sheck, alone, did 90 percent of the keypunching as a work-study student during her four years at Northwestern. Jeri Jensen did most of the typing, helped by Lucille Mayer. In updating the study on party activity through 1978, I was aided by Larry Hughes, Steve Levy, Craig Sherman, and especially Paulette Jacobson, whose assistance in readying the final manuscript for the publisher was invaluable.

At The Free Press, Cohn Jones was instrumental in getting the material into production. Claude Conyers then skillfully edited the mass of typescript and computer printout and guided the book to publication, substantially improving its appearance in the process.

Finally, I thank my family for tolerating a life dominated by "The Project" for so many years that my fourteen-year-old daughter Susan and her younger sister Katy regarded my morning-to-midnight absences from home for weeks at a time while working at the library or computing center as normal behavior for their father. Because my wife Ann gave so much of herself to The Project at the bibliographic stage, she has an appreciation of its hold on me that has tempered her frustration over my consuming schedule for the past fifteen years. Her personal support in the absence of professional rewards in recent years is more than I can properly credit.

If transported back in time and given the chance to decide about doing the project, would I do it again? The answer is no.

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