LIBERALISM & EXECUTIVE POWER: WOODROW WILSON & THE AMERICAN FOUNDERS

In: Polity: the journal of the Northeastern Political Science Association, Band 26, Heft 4, S. 579-600

Abstract

THE PROGRESSIVE CRITIQUE OF AMERICAN LIBERAL INSTITUTIONS RESTS UPON A VIEW OF EXECUTIVE POWER DIFFERENT FROM THAT TO THE FOUNDERS. THIS NEW EXECUTIVE POWER IS UNDERSTOOD IN THE LIGHT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIVIDUALITY IN THE MODERN DEMOCRATIC STATE. WOODROW WILSON'S THEORY OF PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP FOLLOWS FROM THIS VIEW, WITH THE EXECUTIVE'S ROLE UNDERSTOOD AS THE EMBODIMENT OF THE NATIONAL WILL AND AS HEAD OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE NECESSARY TO ANSWER THE DEMANDS OF A NEW OPEN-ENDED INDIVIDUALITY.