James Q. Wilson
Encyclopedia
James Q. Wilson is an American academic political scientist and an authority on public administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....

. He is a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 and senior fellow at the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy at Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...

.

Career

James Wilson completed his B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 at the University of Redlands
University of Redlands
The University of Redlands is a private liberal arts and sciences university located in Redlands, California. The university's campus sits on near downtown Redlands. The university was founded in 1907 and was associated with the American Baptist Church. The land for the university was donated by...

 in 1952, where he was the national collegiate debate champion in 1951 and 1952. He completed an M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 (1957) and a Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 (1959) in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

. From 1961 to 1987, he was the Shattuck Professor of Government at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

. From 1987 until 1997, he was the James Collins Professor of Management and Public Policy at the UCLA Anderson School of Management at UCLA. From 1998 to 2009, he was the Ronald Reagan Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University's
Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States, near Malibu, is the location for Seaver College, the School of...

 School of Public Policy
Pepperdine School of Public Policy
The Pepperdine University School of Public Policy is a Master of Public Policy degree program, located in Malibu, California. It is one of five graduate schools at Pepperdine University with specializations in American politics, economics, international relations, and state and local policy.The...

.

Wilson's university text American Government (now coauthored with John J. DiIulio, Jr.
John DiIulio
John J. Dilulio Jr. is a political scientist. He currently serves as the Frederic Fox Leadership Professor of Politics, Religion, and Civil Society and Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, he served as the first director of the White House Office of...

) is widely sold.

Political and business positions

Wilson is a former chairman of the White House Task Force on Crime (1966), of the National Advisory Commission on Drug Abuse Prevention (1972–73) and a member of the Attorney General's Task Force on Violent Crime (1981), the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
The President's Intelligence Advisory Board is an advisor to the Executive Office of the President of the United States. According to its self-description, it "...provides advice to the President concerning the quality and adequacy of intelligence collection, of analysis and estimates, of...

 (1985–90), and the President's Council on Bioethics. He is a former president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

 of the American Political Science Association
American Political Science Association
The American Political Science Association is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903, it publishes three academic journals...

. He has served on the board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 for the New England Electric System (now National Grid USA), Protection One
Protection One
Protection One is the second largest electronic security company in the United States. The company has approximately one million home and business customers, 60 branch offices, and 2,400 employees.-Business Security:...

, RAND
RAND
RAND Corporation is a nonprofit global policy think tank first formed to offer research and analysis to the United States armed forces by Douglas Aircraft Company. It is currently financed by the U.S. government and private endowment, corporations including the healthcare industry, universities...

, and State Farm Mutual Insurance.

He is the chairman of the Council of Academic Advisors of the American Enterprise Institute
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and...

. Wilson is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...

 and the American Philosophical Society
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...

, and a member of the International Council of the New York-based Human Rights Foundation
Human Rights Foundation
The Human Rights Foundation is a non-profit organization whose stated mission "is to ensure that freedom is both preserved and promoted" in the Americas. The Human Rights Foundation was founded in 2005 by Thor Halvorssen...

.

Political views

Although, as a young professor, he "voted for John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...

 and worked in the latter's presidential campaign",
Wilson is now recognized as a leading conservative scholar, as indicated by his advisory position to the American Enterprise Institute.

Awards

  • Honorary doctorate from Harvard University
    Harvard University
    Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

    .
  • Lifetime Achievement Award, American Political Science Association
    American Political Science Association
    The American Political Science Association is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903, it publishes three academic journals...

    , 2001.
  • The Presidential Medal of Freedom
    Presidential Medal of Freedom
    The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...

     by President George W. Bush
    George W. Bush
    George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

     in 2003.

Books

"American Politics, Then and Now" (2010)
  • Understanding America: The Anatomy of an Exceptional Nation (2008, ed. with Peter Schuck)
  • American Government, 12th ed. (2010, with John J. DiIulio, Jr.)
  • The Marriage Problem: How Our Culture Damages Families (2002)
  • Moral Judgment (1997)
  • The Moral Sense (1993)
  • On Character: Essays by James Q. Wilson (1991)
  • Bureaucracy (1989)
  • Crime and Human Nature (1985, with Richard Herrnstein
    Richard Herrnstein
    Richard J. Herrnstein was an American researcher in animal learning in the Skinnerian tradition. He was one of the founders of quantitative analysis of behavior....

    )
  • Watching Fishes: Life and Behavior on Coral Reefs (1985, with Roberta Wilson)
  • Thinking About Crime (1975)
  • The Investigators (1978)
  • Political Organizations (1973)
  • Varieties of Police Behavior (1968)
  • The Amateur Democrat (1966)
  • City Politics (1963, with Edward C. Banfield
    Edward C. Banfield
    Edward Christie Banfield was an American political scientist, best known as the author of The Moral Basis of a Backward Society , and The Unheavenly City . One of the leading scholars of his generation, Banfield was an adviser to Republican presidents...

    )
  • Negro Politics (1960)

External links

  • Biography at Boston College
  • Wilson's page at Pepperdine's website
  • No easy answers, an interview with Wilson in Reason
    Reason (magazine)
    Reason is a libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation. The magazine has a circulation of around 60,000 and was named one of the 50 best magazines in 2003 and 2004 by the Chicago Tribune.- History :...

  • Center for Inquiry
    Center for Inquiry
    The Center for Inquiry is a non-profit educational organization with headquarters in the United States whose primary mission is to encourage evidence-based inquiry into paranormal and fringe science claims, alternative medicine and mental health practices, religion, secular ethics, and society...

    's Textbook Accuracy Report [PDF]
  • Wilson's rebuttal to textbook criticisms at Internet Archive
    Internet Archive
    The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...

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