author
John William Burgess
1844–1931
A pioneering scholar at Columbia University, he helped establish political science as a formal academic field in the United States. His work combined history, law, and government, reflecting a lifelong interest in how states and constitutions take shape.
2 Audiobooks
The Middle Period, 1817-1858
by John William Burgess
Reconstruction and the Constitution, 1866-1876
by John William Burgess
About the author
Born in Tennessee in 1844, he became an American political scientist, historian, and legal scholar whose career was closely tied to Columbia University. After studying in Germany, he brought European-style academic methods to the United States and went on to play a major role in shaping the study of politics as a university discipline.
At Columbia, he founded the first graduate school of political science in 1880 and taught generations of students in history, constitutional law, and government. He is often remembered as one of the most influential early political scientists in America, especially for helping give the field a more formal place in higher education.
He died in 1931. Readers coming to his work today will find a writer interested in the structure of the state, the development of constitutions, and the long historical forces behind modern government.