Synthesized answer
"The Wisconsin Idea" was published in 1912 by Charles McCarthy, who was the chief of the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Department [Passage 1]. The book was written primarily to answer inquiries from legislative leaders and reformers in other states who were seeking information on the experimental legislation that Wisconsin had undertaken [Passage 3]. This legislation aimed to secure the social and political betterment of the people, and Wisconsin had become a "laboratory for wise experimental legislation" under Senator La Follette's leadership [Passage 2]. McCarthy's purpose was to make the book of "real service to good government" [Passage 3].
The book is described as a "well reasoned and thoughtful exposition of how sane radicalism can be successfully applied in practice" [Passage 3]. It details Wisconsin's "actual accomplishment in the field of political and industrial reform" [Passage 5]. McCarthy's work aimed to show how promises were redeemed by performances and theories reduced to practice in Wisconsin [Passage 2, Passage 3]. By presenting these specific results and the philosophy behind them, the book could have served as a reflection of the progressive reforms of its…
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From the book
← The Wisconsin Idea ( 1912 ) by Charles McCarthy Introduction → related portals : Political theory 3905798 The Wisconsin Idea 1912 Charles McCarthy THE WISCONSIN IDEA THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO DALLAS • SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. TORONTO THE WISCONSIN IDEA BY CHARLES McCARTHY CHIEF, WISCONSIN LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE DEPARTMENT New York THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1912 All rights reserved Copyright, 1912 By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotyped. Published March, 1912. Norwood…
← Title The Wisconsin Idea by Charles McCarthy Introduction Preface → 3905804 The Wisconsin Idea — Introduction Charles McCarthy INTRODUCTION Thanks to the movement for genuinely democratic popular government which Senator La Follette led to overwhelming victory in Wisconsin, that state has become literally a laboratory for wise experimental legislation aiming to secure the social and political betterment of the people as a whole. Nothing is easier than to demand, on the stump, or in essays and editorials, the abolition of injustice and the securing to each man of his rights. But actually…
sconsin there has been a successful effort to redeem the promises by performances, and to reduce theories into practice. In consequence legislative leaders and reformers pushing legislation in other states write by the hundred to the men in power in Wisconsin asking for information on what has been done. Mr. McCarthy, the chief of the Legislative Reference Library of the Free Library Commission, has written this book primarily to answer such inquiries. His purpose is to make the book of real service to good government, and this purpose, in my judgment, he has admirably fulfilled. It is a…
← Introduction The Wisconsin Idea by Charles McCarthy Preface The Reason for It → 3905808 The Wisconsin Idea — Preface Charles McCarthy PREFACE In my capacity as legislative librarian for over ten years in the state of Wisconsin, I have been constantly in touch with the legislation of this state, which now seems to be attracting some little attention throughout the country. The legislative reference department has been besieged by newspaper writers who come here to use the files and records. The recent magazines have contained considerable literature relating to the constructive nature of…
ic results, but he has so interwoven his studies of those separate results as to make the volume into a connected whole. Through his account of actual accomplishment in the field of political and industrial reform in Wisconsin, there runs a strain of philosophy that it would be well for every practical reformer to master. As Professor Simon N. Patten says: "Without means of attainment and measures of result an ideal becomes meaningless. The real idealist is a pragmatist and an economist. He demands measurable results and reaches them by means made available by economic efficiency. Only in…
More questions about this book
- "To the hard-handed men...and to the legislators, always criticised and never praised." What does this dedication reveal about Charles McCarthy's perspective on societal value, and how might it foreshadow the core principles or goals of "The Wisconsin Idea"?
- Charles McCarthy was Chief of the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Department, and the bibliography lists recent Wisconsin laws. How might his professional role and the specific legislative topics referenced in the appendix indicate the practical, applied nature of "The Wisconsin Idea"?
- Examine the specific areas of legislation in the bibliography (e.g., child labor, corrupt practices, industrial education). What overarching social or political problems was "The Wisconsin Idea" likely designed to address based on these legislative focuses?
- Based solely on the introductory elements (dedication, author's background, bibliography entries), what can you infer about the fundamental relationship between government, academia, and the public that "The Wisconsin Idea" likely champions?