Constitutional government in the United States / Woodrow Wilson ; with a new introduction by Sidney A. Pearson, Jr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924.

Series:

Library of liberal thought

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--Politics and government.

United States.

Politics and government.

Constitutional law--United States.

Constitutional law.

Physical Description:

lii, 236 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick : Transaction Publishers, [2002]

Summary:

One of the genuine classics of American political science literature. Constitutional Government in the United States is also a subtle and influential criticism of the American founding fathers produced during the Progressive Era. Wilson's interpretation of the Constitution shaped the thought of scholars and students of American politics. His definition of constitutional government and the place of the United States in the development of constitutional theory continues to shape discourse today. Wilson discusses the three branches of government in the United States, the relation between the states and the federal government, and party government in a manner quite distinct from the founding fathers.

Constitutional Government has its origins in a series of lectures Wilson delivered at Columbia University in 1907. It is carefully organized around three separate but mutually supporting arguments. First is the idea that constitutional government evolves historically from primitive beginnings of the state toward a universal and ideal form. Second, this idea of historical evolution contains within it an analysis of how and where the Constitution fits into the evolutionary process as a whole. Third, the historical thesis itself provides a prescription for bringing American government, and with it the Constitution, into accord with his first principle of the ideal form of modern government.

In his new introduction. Sidney A. Pearson, Jr. explores how, with Constitutional Government in the United States. Wilson helped create a new genre of political writing using the point of view of a "literary politician." He discusses Wilson's intention to replace the constitutional argument of the founders with one of his own based on the application of Darwinian metaphor in a political science framework. And he examines the differences between the views launched by Wilson and those set forth by James Madison in The Federalist. This is an essential work for all interested in the evolution of American political thought.

Contents:

I. What is Constitutional Government? 1

II. The Place of the United States in Constitutional Development 25

III. The President of the United States 54

IV. The House of Representatives 82

V. The Senate 112

VI. The Courts 142

VII. The States and the Federal Government 173

VIII. Party Government in the United States 198.

Notes:

Originally published: New York : Columbia University Press, 1908, with new introduction.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0765808668

OCLC:

47023634