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 Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

, and moved to

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

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 It has been replaced by the Mossbourne Community Academy.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 based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first polytechnic to open in London. The Polytechnic formally received a Royal charter in Aug ...

, before entering the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

, then relocated to Cambridge. In 1945 he enlisted in the

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the A ...

, and was commissioned in 1947. He served with the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards in

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 ...

until shortly before the

creation of Israel Israel, also known as the Holy Land or Palestine (region), Palestine, is the birthplace of the Jews, Jewish people, the place where the final form of the Hebrew Bible is thought to have been compiled, and the birthplace of Judaism and Chris ...

in 1948.

Academic career

Vile was successively a

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

in government at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...

, a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer co ...

, 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 The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

, and at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

, as well as director of

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a 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 its original campu ...

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