Maurice John Crawley Vile (born 23 July 1927) is a British political scientist. His main areas of interest are constitutional theory, federalism, the separation of powers, American government and politics.

Early life

Vile was born on 23 July 1927 in Stoke Newington, East London, and moved to Victoria Park,

South Hackney South Hackney is an area of Hackney in London, England within the Borough of Hackney. It is about northeast of Charing Cross. The Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy on the corner of Victoria Park Road and Lammas Walk utilises the buildings of ...

, three years later. His father Edward, was a packer at a textile warehouse, Jeremiah Rotherham and Company in Shoreditch, until it was destroyed in the Second World War. In 1938 he gained a London County Council Scholarship to

Hackney Downs School Hackney Downs School was an 11–16 boys, community comprehensive secondary school in Lower Clapton, Greater London, England. It was established in 1876 and closed in 1995. It has been replaced by the Mossbourne Community Academy. History ...

and moved with the School when it was evacuated to Norfolk in 1939. In 1943 he returned to London and studied for a year at the

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Polyte ...

, before entering the London School of Economics, then relocated to Cambridge. In 1945 he enlisted in the Royal Armoured Corps, and was commissioned in 1947. He served with the

4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army formed in 1922. It served in the Second World War. However following the reduction of forces at the end of the Cold War and proposals contained in the Options for Change ...

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East J ...

until shortly before the

creation of Israel Israel, also known as the Holy Land or Palestine, is the birthplace of the Jewish people, the place where the final form of the Hebrew Bible is thought to have been compiled, and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity. In the course of ...

in 1948.

Academic career

Vile was successively a lecturer in government at the

University of Exeter , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...

, a research fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, and Professor of Political Science at the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

. A founding member of the University of Kent, he became successively dean of social sciences, pro-vice chancellor and deputy vice chancellor. He has been a

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

at the University of Massachusetts, and at Smith College, as well as director of

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

London Programmes, and research director at Canterbury Christ Church College (now University). He was made an honorary fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University in recognition of the role he played in its development. He is emeritus professor of political science in the University of Kent.

Publications: Books

*The Structure of American Federalism, Oxford University Press, 1961, 206pp. *Constitutionalism and the Separation of Powers, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1967, 359pp.; Second edition with new chapter and bibliography, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis, 1998; Chinese edition, published by SDX Joint Publishing Company, Beijing, 1997; Spanish edition published by the Centro de Estudios *Políticos y Constitucionales, Madrid, 2007.See ''The Political Science Reviewer' Vol. III, Fall 1973. *Politics in the U.S.A., Allen Lane, 1970, Pelican Books edition, 1973; published by Hutchinsons, 1976; 6th. edition, Routledge, 2007, 237pp. French edition: Le régime des Etats-Unis, Editions du Seuil, Paris 1972. *Federalism in the United States, Canada and Australia, Research paper no. 2, The Royal Commission on the Constitution, 1973, 48pp. *The Presidency: American Historical Documents, Vol. IV, Harraps, , 1974, 210pp. *General Editor, The Penguin Interdisciplinary Readings, 5 volumes, Penguin Books, London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vile, Maurice 1927 births Living people Scientists from London People from Stoke Newington British political scientists Academics of the University of Kent Alumni of the London School of Economics Academics of the University of Exeter Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford Academics of Canterbury Christ Church University British people in Mandatory Palestine 20th-century British Army personnel 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards officers Royal Armoured Corps officers