James Quinn Wilson (May 27, 1931 – March 2, 2012) was an American political scientist and an authority on public administration.
He also was a co-author of a leading university textbook, American Government, and wrote many scholarly books and articles, and op-ed essays.
[1] Wilson and George L. Kelling introduced the broken windows theory in the March 1982 edition of The Atlantic Monthly.
[3][4] Wilson authored the university text American Government, and coauthored later editions with John J. DiIulio, Jr.
[5][6] Wilson was a former chairman of the White House Task Force on Crime (1966), of the National Advisory Commission on Drug Abuse Prevention (1972–1973) and a member of the Attorney General's Task Force on Violent Crime (1981), the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (1985–1990), and the President's Council on Bioethics.
He served on the board of directors for the New England Electric System (now National Grid USA), Protection One, RAND, and State Farm Mutual Insurance.
[7] As a young professor he "voted for John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey and worked in the last's presidential campaign.
[9]Wilson also pioneered the idea that public administration was increasingly replete with political calculations and concerns: This is because our constitutional structure and our traditions afford individuals manifold opportunities not only to bring their special interests to the attention of public officials but also — and this the important thing — to compel officials to bargain and to make compromises.
The nature of the governmental system gives private interests such good opportunities to participate in the making of public decisions that there is virtually no sphere of 'administration' apart from politics.