The research for this series was requested and funded in large part by the Heinz Endowments and the William Penn Foundation but also by Temple. Its purpose was to assist the General Assembly in representing citizens, making laws, and balancing the other branches.

The DVD and text Volume 1, "The Pennsylvania General Assembly Before and After the 1968 Legislative Modernization Commission: The Evolution of an Institution," is an institutional history that focuses on the legislature's bipartisan and bicameral decision to move from a part-time to a full-time body.

The DVD and text Volume 2, "The Pennsylvania General Assembly's Greatest Achievements and he Parties' Roles in Enacting Important Laws: 1968-2008," complements the institutional history by providing a policy history by two undergraduate interns in Temple's Pennsylvania Capital Semester.

The DVD and text Volume 3, "The Rules of the Game: How the Constitution Affects Lawmaking in Pennsylvania," features a discussion by legal experts of the ways in which the courts have interpreted constitutional provisions constraining legislative procedures

The final DVD and text Volume 4 "A Discussion of Topics Related to the Continuing Evolution of the Pennsylvania General Assembly," and Volume 5, "Findings from Academic Research on State Government Institutions and Reforms," explores various institutional changes that have been tried in other states or proposed in Pennsylvania as remedies to public discontent about governance in America.