author
Graham Wallas
1858–1932
A key early thinker in political psychology, he helped bring the study of human behavior into modern politics. He is also remembered as a Fabian reformer and one of the founders of the London School of Economics.
1 Audiobook
Human Nature in Politics Third Edition
by Graham Wallas
About the author
Born in Sunderland on May 31, 1858, Graham Wallas was educated at Shrewsbury School and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He began his career as a schoolmaster, but his public role grew after he joined the Fabian Society, where he became one of its leading voices in gradual social reform.
Wallas played an important part in the creation of the London School of Economics in the 1890s and later taught there for many years. His writing helped shift political study away from the idea that people act purely rationally, arguing instead that emotion, habit, and psychology matter deeply in public life.
He is best known for books including Human Nature in Politics and The Art of Thought. The first made a lasting mark on political science, while the second became widely known for its account of the stages of creative thinking. Wallas died in London in 1932, but his ideas still echo in debates about politics, education, and creativity.