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At Princeton he rejected the Germanic model of the PhD-oriented research university in favor of the "Oxbridge" (Oxford and Cambridge) model of intense small group discussions and one-one-one tutorials. He hired 50 young professors, called preceptors, to meet with students in small conferences, grilling them about their reading. He failed to get approval for his plan to build Oxford-style colleges where students and faculty would eat and talk together. Instead Princeton was dominated by "eating clubs" in which students ate with each other and ignored the professors.
At Princeton he rejected the Germanic model of the PhD-oriented research university in favor of the "Oxbridge" (Oxford and Cambridge) model of intense small group discussions and one-one-one tutorials. He hired 50 young professors, called preceptors, to meet with students in small conferences, grilling them about their reading. He failed to get approval for his plan to build Oxford-style colleges where students and faculty would eat and talk together. Instead Princeton was dominated by "eating clubs" in which students ate with each other and ignored the professors.
Wilson promote the leadership model, whereby the college focused on training a small cadre of undergraduates for national leadership, "the minority who plan, who conceive, who superintend," as he called them in his inaugural address as the university's president. "The college is no less democratic because it is for those who play a special part."
Wilson promote the leadership model, whereby the college focused on training a small cadre of undergraduates for national leadership, "the minority who plan, who conceive, who superintend," as he called them in his inaugural address as the university's president. "The college is no less democratic because it is for those who play a special part."
===Political theory===
Wilson made significant contributions to political science. In his book ''Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics'' (1885), noting how the Constitution's separation of powers had been eroded since the Civil War by the increasing power of Congress, he suggested a remedy for this in a cabinet-style government of the variety proposed by [[Walter Bagehot]] in Britain. By criticizing the Constitutionalist and Federalist traditions that had characterized American politics for a century, and showing their faults, Wilson sought to open a serious debate on the political changes in the United States in the intervening century and whether the Constitution remained an adequate regulator of these. By the time he wrote ''Constitutional Government in the United States'' (1908), Wilson was advocating the need for constitutional reform that would make Congress and president more representative and, above all, the need for a strong president who could influence Congress rather than submit to it.
==Reform governor==
==Reform governor==
By 1910 when internal politics at Princeton meant that the research university became dominant. Frustrated, Wilson moved into state politics, winning the governorship of New Jersey as a Democrat in 1910, supported by the party bosses. He immediately broke with the bosses and launched a reform administration that was a model of Progressive Era state government. Wilson by 1912 had emerged as the leader of the [[Progressive Movement]] in the Democratic Party.
By 1910 when internal politics at Princeton meant that the research university became dominant. Frustrated, Wilson moved into state politics, winning the governorship of New Jersey as a Democrat in 1910, supported by the party bosses. He immediately broke with the bosses and launched a reform administration that was a model of Progressive Era state government. Wilson by 1912 had emerged as the leader of the [[Progressive Movement]] in the Democratic Party.