Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)

This is the classic foundational study of American political science, by one of the founding figures of the discipline. It is little read today, which is a pity. It is written from a critical perspective, one that sees the preponderant role of Congress in late nineteenth-century American politics as an evil to be remedied , not by presidential domination but by cabinet government on the British model. The introduction by Walter Lippmann, then the predominant public intellectual, provides a show more useful context for the work. and for the reasons for Wilson's political Anglophilia. show less

I read this book for Wilson's theory of government in the first part of the book: its nature, functions and objectives. It was interesting, as I expected. After that this book contains a great number of chapters on the history of government in Europe and the evolution of governments in various European countries and the United States. Wilson's analysis of the United States may still have some contemporary interest, but other than that the book must be outdated by now. I didn't read any of show more these latter chapters carefully but I was still impressed by the vast amount of learning Wilson exhibits in them (insofar as he actually wrote them himself - this was not the case for all chapters in my edition of this book). show less

3 Stars

Inscribed: "To Papa, In honor of President Wilson's reelection, November 26, 1916, Helen"