ABSTRACT
As a scholar and statesman, Woodrow Wilson endeavored to reform democratic government, especially American government, so that it could cope successfully with the forces of modernity. His theories centered on the developmental progression of democratic states, on the adaptation of modern administrative methods to the peculiar politics of each political regime, and on a new kind of political leadership that would introduce and legitimate the necessary reforms. Wilson's ideas and efforts were oriented toward ensuring the long-run health of modern democratic government, and he regarded administration as central to that enterprise, serving as the state's “experiencing organ.” Both his theories and his practices fell short of his ideals, however, leaving a complicated legacy for scholarship, and the practice of politics, especially in the United States.
