Letter from the editors.

In matters of fashion, Washington is rarely ahead of the curve. Casual business attire, for instance, now standard everywhere in America, hasn't quite caught on here; an astonishing number of men still roam D.C. in suits and ties. This stubborn resistance to stylistic change has been reflected in our pages. The last time we altered the look of the magazine was 1996, and we haven't bad a dramatic makeover since 1969. While them is perhaps something to be said for such constancy of appearance, it can become a bit much, like a guy who won't give up wearing his torn-up college sweatshirt. Moreover, it's hard to watch the dramatic changes taking place in Washington right now and be content with the same-ole, same-ole format. We've thought for awhile that there are ways we could make the magazine more attractive, accessible, and fun without compromising our serious coverage of politics mad government. And so we have redesigned the magazine, with the help of Design Consultant Jandos Rothstein and Managing Editor Christina Larson. We hope you like it.

The first change you may have noticed is the size. The magazine is about an inch taller than it used to be. (Please note that we haven't increased the price. More Monthly for your money!) We've updated our logo, changed the fonts of our headlines, included more photos and graphic elements, and generally sharpened the look of the pages.

We've also added a couple of new features. At the front, there's "10 Miles Square," a department consisting of short reported narratives that take you behind the scenes to meet the characters and subcultures that really run Washington. This month, Eli Lake profiles a new group whose curious mission is to help dissidents (and perhaps the Bush administration) overthrow tyrannical regimes nonviolently. Also, Benjamin Wallace-Wells visits a top D.C. head hunter to see if the recently humiliated chairman of the FCC, Michael Powell, can still find a cushy lobbying job.

At the back of the magazine, we're proud to present "Meanwhile in America," by groundbreaking comic-book journalist Joe Sacco. Joe will be "covering" the presidential race for the Monthly--from places far, far removed from where the actual candidates are.

We will also continue a kick we've been on for the last year or so, of running more essays that plumb the political sociology of American culture. This month, contributing editor and axman Nicholas Thompson offers the music industry some marketing tips he's learned while selling CDs in the New York subway system, and Sarah Wildman cogitates on the bourgeois snobbery of TV's latest British import, "What Not to Wear."

In the months to come, we may he tweaking this new design or adding elements to it--if you have any suggestions (or complaints), email us at [e-mail].

Other than that, The Washington Monthly will remain pretty much the same. As always, the bulk of the magazine is devoted to strongly argued, deeply reported long-form journalism that attempts to uncover what's really happening in politics and government before the rest of the press does. In this month's cover story, for instance, Benjamin Wallace-Wells reports on the hardly surprising consequence of White House policies that have decimated police forces nationwide: The murder rate is going up and criminals are winning back the streets. And Joshua Micah Marshall teases out exactly why President Bush feels compelled to deceive so much (if you have any doubt that he does, check out how Bush scored on our Mendacity Index, page 28).

We've also kept your favorite departments--Who's Who, Tidbits & Outrages, On Political Book, The Monthly Journalism Award, and, of course, Charles Peter's "Tilting at Windmills." The truth is, readers seemed to like the Monthly just fine before this redesign--our subscriptions rose 40 percent over the last year. But what fun is success if you can't mess with it?

Sincerely,

PAUL GLASTRIS EDITOR IN CHIEF

MARKOS KOUNALAKIS PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER