Woodrow Wilson And The Roots Of Modern Liberalism

Woodrow Wilson's political philosophy, argues Pestritto (politics, U. of Dallas), remained consistent from his earliest writings, through his career as an academic political scientist and his later political career. His argument rests upon an analysis of Wilson's historical and political thinking, specifically in regard to the principles of the American founding. Wilson had an organic, historicist view of the state that led him to advocate for a more powerful, centralized national state and to advocate for the ability to interpret the constitution in accord with new historical contingencies. This argument leads Pestritto to conclude that Wilson, even as President, was not the anti-progressive many have claimed. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Ronald J. Pestritto is Charles and Lucia Shipley Chair in the American Constitution at Hillsdale College and a research fellow at the Claremont Institute.