Rational vs Polynomial Character of W$_n^l$-Algebras

The constraints proposed recently by Bershadsky to produce $W^l_n$ algebras are a mixture of first and second class constraints and are degenerate. We show that they admit a first-class subsystem from which they can be recovered by gauge-fixing, and that the non-degenerate constraints can be handled by previous methods. The degenerate constraints present a new situation in which the natural primary field basis for the gauge-invariants is rational rather than polynomial. We give an algorithm for constructing the rational basis and converting the base elements to polynomials.