Political Science Political Science College of Literature, Science, and the Arts The University of Michigan: An Encyclopedic Survey Copyright © 2015 by the Regents of the University of Michigan The University of Michigan: An Encyclopedic Survey was first published beginning in 1942. For its 2017 Bicentennial, the University undertook the most significant updating of the Encyclopedia since the original, focusing on academic units. Entries from all versions are compiled in the Bicentennial digital and print-on-demand edition. Contents 1. Political Science (1942) 1 Jesse S. Reeves 2. The Bureau of Government (1942) 12 Robert S. Ford 3. Political Science (1975) 16 Joseph E. Kallenbach 4. Political Science (2015) 20 [1] Political Science (1942) Jesse S. Reeves THE Department of Political Science was formally established at the University of Michigan in 1910. At the February meeting of that year, the Regents authorized Acting President Hutchins to make an investigation and report to the Board for appointment a professor of political science, “this chair to be regarded as part of the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts” (R.P., 1906-10, p. 660). At the April meeting, the election of a professor of political science was made upon Dr. Hutchins’ recommendation. Jesse Siddall Reeves (Amherst ’91, L.H.D. hon. ibid. ’26, Ph.D. Johns Hopkins ’94, LL.D. Williams ’33), then an assistant professor of political science at Dart- mouth College, was so chosen and entered upon his duties in September, 1910. Instruction in the field which has come to be set apart as the Department of Political Science seems to have been begun in 1860, when the Regents voted as follows: Resolved, That the resident Law Professor be required during the vacation of the Law Department to deliver before the Senior Class of the Academical Department a Course of Lectures on 2 Political Science Constitutional Law and History and that he receive therefore an additional salary of $500 per annum. (R.P., 1837-64, p. 907.) That this resolution was adopted in 1860 is significant. It was a time when the great American constitutional crisis impended, and the Regents recognized the duty of a state educational institution to inform its students on the constitutional system under which they were living. The resident professor of law was Thomas McIntyre Cooley, then just beginning his long and invaluable services to the University. It was fortunate that such a man could be called upon. It may be surmised that it was in these lectures, given to the senior class of the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts, that Judge Cooley began that exposition of the Constitution the influence of which came in time to extend far beyond the confines of the University in his classical works, Constitutional Law and Constitutional Limitations. The coming of the Civil War seriously reduced the attendance at the University. The students were in the field, engaged in maintaining the theory of the Constitution which they might have had from Cooley had they remained in college. The lectures seem to have continued until 1865, when, by action of the Board, Professor Cooley was “excused from his present duties connected with the Literary Department” (R.P., 1864-70, p. 80). When next the curriculum provided for instruction in the field of government, it was under the auspices of the Department of History, and there it remained, for the most part, until 1910. This was a natural arrangement at the time. Except at Columbia University, where a school of political science was founded in 1880 under Professor John W. Burgess, the study of political science was centered about the history of political institutions, and even at Columbia the influence of the historical school was strong. At Johns Hopkins, Professor Herbert B. Adams refused to make a distinction between history and political science. Upon the wall of his seminar room appeared in large letters the words of Freeman: “History is past politics and politics present history” — a half-truth which he took as his motto. The teaching of history at the University of Michigan, as Political Science (1942) 3 elsewhere, was largely political, and the meaning of institutions was sought in their origin and development. In 1868-69 Charles Kendall Adams (’61, A.M. ’62, LL.D. Harvard ’86) offered in the Department of History lecture courses entitled the Growth of Liberty in England and the History and Characteristics of the Constitution of the United States (see Part IV: Department of History). It was the abiding interest and activity of three men — President Angell, Thomas M. Cooley, and C. K. Adams, that led to the development here of studies in political science, although for a long time that generic term was not used. With the coming of President Angell (see Part I: Angell Administration), there was added to the curriculum Public International Law, a course available to the students of the Department of Law as well as to those in the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts. From 1872 until 1910, except when he was absent from the University as Minister to China and as Minister to Turkey, President Angell gave this course in international law, which was soon supplemented by another course, the History of Treaties. The development of the Department of History under Charles Kendall Adams provided for additional courses — Political Institutions, English and American Constitutional History, and Comparative European Government. During Angell’s absence as Minister to China in 1880 and 1881, International Law was given by Herbert Tuttle, who was designated Lecturer in International Law. Tuttle had been a student under Angell at Vermont, and this was his first academic appointment. With Angell’s return, Tuttle gave lectures in history at the University of Michigan for another year, when he was called to Cornell University by Andrew D. White. There he had a brilliant career as a professor of modern history, until his death in 1894. During Angell’s absence in China, there was organized a School of Political Science within the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts, with Charles Kendall Adams as Dean in charge. As announced in the University Calendar, “the aim of the School is to afford exceptional opportunities for students interested in public questions to specialize in History, Political Economy, International Law, and kindred subjects under guidance of their instructors.” The students were required to 4 Political Science complete two years in the University before being eligible for admission to the School. The work of the School of Political Science was organized within the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts, but was not limited to the undergraduate years. Although the Graduate School was not organized until 1892 and graduate studies were then integrated within the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts, the plan of the School of Political Science extended through to the doctorate of philosophy: Besides the regular examinations at the close of the semesters, every candidate for a degree was required to present and defend a thesis before a Committee of the Faculty, as well as to pass a satisfactory examination in three branches of study, a major and two minors. The student who met all the requirements would be recommended for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. (Hinsdale, p. 85.) The curriculum of the School of Political Science brought together the courses offered by Adams in American, British, and Continental European governments, Cooley’s Taxation and the Growth of Cities, and Angell’s International Law and Diplomacy, to which were added courses in political economy, social science, sanitary science, and forestry administration. Cooley added to the curriculum in 1883-84 a course on comparative administrative law, with special reference to local government. It is probable that the example set by Columbia University in organizing a school of political science was in the minds of Cooley, Frieze, and Adams when they undertook to organize the School of Political Science at the University of Michigan, although it was an awkward arrangement. A School of Political Science, with a dean, established within the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts, gave rise to many difficulties of administration and control, especially as the teaching personnel of the School continued to give instruction in various fields outside of the School of Political Science. Notwithstanding the administrative difficulties, an increasing number of literary students was enrolled in the School, and the curriculum, with minor changes, continued to be announced annually through 1887-88. The University Calendar for 1888-89 noted: “It has been Political Science (1942) 5 found unnecessary to retain an independent School of Political Science, under the form of organization described in calendars of previous years,” and afterward the announcement of the curriculum of the School of Political Science disappeared from the Calendar. There is no record that the School was ever formally abolished by action of the Regents. There were, however, in addition to the administrative difficulties, other reasons for the discontinuance of the School of Political Science. Charles Kendall Adams resigned to accept the presidency of Cornell in 1885 and was succeeded as Dean by Thomas McIntyre Cooley (LL.D. ’73, LL.D. Harvard ’86). The latter, however, was soon to interrupt his University activities in order to become chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission upon its establishment in 1887. Apparently there were no men upon the faculty who were disposed to undertake the burden of carrying on the School. In addition, the so-called university system, which was first announced in the Calendar for 1882-83, provided a method by which specialized instruction in the field of political science could be carried on without the special organization of a school.