Introduction: Wilson, the Founding, and Historical Thinking
Chapter 1: Historicism and Wilson's Critique of the Social
Compact
Chapter 2: The Modern Democratic State and the New Political
Science
Chapter 3: Beyond the Separation of Powers: The New
Constitutionalism and the Growth of the American National State
Chapter 4: Congress as Parliament?
Chapter 5: The Presidency, the Parties, and the Judiciary
Chapter 6: Who Governs? Wilson's Leadership Doctrine and the
Question of Democracy
Chapter 7: Wilson's Science of Administration
Conclusion: 1912 and Beyond
Ronald J. Pestritto is Charles and Lucia Shipley Chair in the American Constitution at Hillsdale College and a research fellow at the Claremont Institute.
The 'Era of Big Government'—and the idea that the national
government ought to be adequate to any task the people ask of
it—did not creep up on America unaware. It was a deliberate
project, grounded in a critique of the original Constitution,
bolstered by a new political science, and guided by a
thorough-going confidence in historical progress. With clarity,
conviction, and plenty of evidence, R. J. Pestritto shows that,
from his early days as a political scientist through his election
to the presidency, Woodrow Wilson was consistently a central figure
in the development of Progressivism and so of the Liberalism that
dominated twentieth-century American public policy and political
life. Though Wilson was no philosopher-king, Pestritto explains
that our doctor-of-philosophy-president changed how we think about
democracy and about America, in ways that ought to be reappraised
but have yet to be undone.
*James R. Stoner, Jr., Louisiana State University*
Ronald Pestritto’s book is the deepest and most comprehensive
treatment to date of Woodrow Wilson’s political thought. Pestritto
has produced a masterful study of the origins of Wilson’s
theoretical views, and he has carefully shown the connections
between those views and Wilson’s positions on major constitutional
and institutional questions. All interested in American political
thought will appreciate this important work.
*James Ceaser, University of Virginia*
In his brilliant new book, Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern
Liberalism, Ronald Pestritto painstakingly documents Wilson's debt
to Hegel.
*The Daily Standard*
Pestritto offers an interesting read, with Wilson as a parallel to
contemporary end of history commentary. Recommended.
*CHOICE*
In a work that cuts against much of the existing scholarship on
Wilson, Pestritto shows that Wilson held coherent and consistent
political principles throughout his life, and that these principles
put Wilson at the heart of the Progressive movement. Pestritto's
case relies on an impressive and meticulous study of Wilson's own
words—speeches and writings taken from every stage of Wilson's
life—which makes this book all the more persuasive.
*John Marini, University of Nevada, Reno*
Ronald J. Pestrito’s book is an in-depth, methodical analysis of
Wilson’s political philosophy. This dense, but relatively
short 7 chapter volume is opened by placing Wilson in context with
historical thinking and the founding of America. In the
introduction, Pestrito lays out the foundation for the book. He
contrasts the fundamental difference between Wilson’s political
philosophy and that of the Founders. This difference stems
from the framers’ core belief in inalienable, trans-historical
truth and Wilson’s belief in historicism and the adapted tenets of
German philosophers, notably Hegel.
*What Would the Founders Think?*
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