HRF Mourns the Loss of James Q. Wilson (1931-2012)

En: Recibido por email

NEW YORK (March 6, 2012)—James Q. Wilson, founding member of the Human Rights Foundation’s International Council, acclaimed political scientist, and noted public policy scholar, died on Friday afternoon in Boston at the age of 80.
A recipient of the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, Wilson authored 14 books on criminal law, justice, morality, and politics. He taught government at Harvard University for more than 20 years, and later held positions at UCLA, Pepperdine, and Boston College.
Wilson was most famous for his work on the “broken windows” theory of law enforcement. Sparked by his 1982 article in The Atlantic Monthly, the theory argues that upholding the general maintenance of order in communities—making public repairs, cleaning graffiti, aggressively persecuting minor crimes—will cause more serious violent crime rates to go down. “Public order,” Wilson wrote, “is a fragile thing, and if you don’t fix the first broken window, soon all the windows will be broken.” His theory was implemented by city governments in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles, and triggered the swiftest crime reduction in American history.
Wilson was also known for his work on governmental bureaucracy—specifically, that changing the internal culture of groups like the FBI or USDA to more narrowly define their tasks for employees was critical to improve performance.
As an educator, Wilson’s textbook on American government, now in its 11th edition, is more widely used on U.S. university campuses than any other government textbook.
Wilson served as president of the American Political Science Association, which presented him with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. He was elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. In his long and distinguished career, he advised the presidential administrations of Johnson, Nixon, and Reagan on crime and justice.
Wilson gave us a look into how Americans were able to improve the rule of law. Having him on HRF’s International Council, we were able to turn to one of that country's most vivid minds and foremost thinkers. Wilson was an extraordinary person who will be truly missed and impossible to replace.
HRF is a nonprofit nonpartisan organization that protects and promotes human rights globally, with an expertise in the Americas. We believe that all human beings are entitled to freedom of self-determination, freedom from tyranny, the rights to speak freely, to associate with those of like mind, and to leave and enter their countries. Individuals in a free society must be accorded equal treatment and due process under law, and must have the opportunity to participate in the governments of their countries; HRF’s ideals likewise find expression in the conviction that all human beings have the right to be free from arbitrary detainment or exile and from interference and coercion in matters of conscience. HRF does not support nor condone violence. HRF’s International Council includes former prisoners of conscience Vladimir Bukovsky, Palden Gyatso, Mutabar Tadjibaeva, Ramón J. Velásquez, Elie Wiesel, and Harry Wu.