ABSTRACT
In 1905, John R. Commons met the man who wrote the book about the "Wisconsin idea". Historians have dismissed the Wisconsin idea—an oversold claim of academic influence on state policies. But for Charles McCarthy, the man who wrote the book, it was the university's essence, grounded in history and essential for real democracy. For Charles McCarthy, the Wisconsin Idea was essential for democratic government, an intellectual check on the corrupting influence of big business. The administrative structure of the Superior Labor Council would form a pattern for the administrative structure that John R. would eventually propose for the Wisconsin Industrial Commission. In a sense, the publication of Labor and Administration marked the end of an era in John R'.s life. John R planned to devote much of his labor problems seminar to a new type of labor organization: The International Workers of the World, IWW.
