The Statesman - Annotated by Henry Taylor (Paperback)

About the Book

Sir Henry Taylor's classic treatise The Statesman, originally published in 1836, is the first modern book to be devoted to the subject of public administration. It has been read and studied by generations for its keen insights into the relationship between public administrators and elected officials in a democracy. It has also been appreciated for its wit. The present volume is the first twentieth-century edition to be based on the revised and expanded text that Taylor published in 1878 as part of his Collected Works. It is also the first edition to be fully annotated.

The lengthy editors' introduction to this volume emphasizes the relevance of Taylor's thought to the fundamental issues of public administration in the contemporary United States. The editors demonstrate the superiority of Taylor's understanding of the relationship between politics and administration to the widely accepted model of that relation that derives from the thought of Woodrow Wilson. Above all, they argue, Taylor's insights merit our attention because they indicate how a properly organized civil service can be a locus of statesmanship in a democracy, fulfilling the intentions of the authors of the American Constitution in a contemporary context that differs significantly from what the Founders themselves anticipated.

Book Synopsis

Sir Henry Taylor's classic treatise The Statesman, originally published in 1836, is the first modern book to be devoted to the subject of public administration. It has been read and studied by generations for its keen insights into the relationship between public administrators and elected officials in a democracy. It has also been appreciated for its wit. The present volume is the first twentieth-century edition to be based on the revised and expanded text that Taylor published in 1878 as part of his Collected Works. It is also the first edition to be fully annotated.

The lengthy editors' introduction to this volume emphasizes the relevance of Taylor's thought to the fundamental issues of public administration in the contemporary United States. The editors demonstrate the superiority of Taylor's understanding of the relationship between politics and administration to the widely accepted model of that relation that derives from the thought of Woodrow Wilson. Above all, they argue, Taylor's insights merit our attention because they indicate how a properly organized civil service can be a locus of statesmanship in a democracy, fulfilling the intentions of the authors of the American Constitution in a contemporary context that differs significantly from what the Founders themselves anticipated.

Review Quotes

"As an analysis of the characteristics and practices of politicians and what is required for them to be statesmen, The Statesman is a fascinating depiction of ourselves as political animals. As an analysis of the organization and behavior of bureaucracies as they are and as they could be it is equally instructive. It would be difficult for any review . . . to convey adequately the richness, complexity, and charm of this small book. It needs to be read leisurely and carefully to savor its full excellence."-The Review of Politics

About the Author

DAVID LEWIS SCHAEFER is Associate Professor of Political Science at Holy Cross College./e His major field of interest is political philosophy. He is the author of The Political Philosophy of Montaigne (1990), of Justice or Tyranny? (1979), and numerous articles on political philosophy that have appeared in such journals as The American Political Science Review, Review of Metaphysics, Polity, Interpretation, and Journal of Politics.

ROBERTA RUBEL SCHAEFER is Executive Director of the Worcester (Massachusetts) Municipal Research Bureau and Lecturer in Politics at Assumption College./e She has previously taught political science at Rutgers, Temple, and Clark Universities, and at Nichols College. She is the author or co-author of several articles and papers on public administration and political economy, which have been published in such journals as The Southern Review of Public Administration and The Public Interest. She has also held administrative positions with the U.S. Office of Education and the American Hospital Association.