Robert Alan Dahl

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Dahl

Robert Alan Dahl (born December 17, 1915 in Inwood , † February 5, 2014 in Hamden ) was an American political scientist .

Life

Dahl grew up in the small community of Inwood, Iowa, where he was born. In 1925 his parents moved with him to Alaska , which at the time was not yet a US state . He studied at the University of Washington and graduated from Yale University , where he submitted his dissertation Socialist Programs and Democratic Politics: An Analysis in 1940 .

From 1936 he worked for the National Labor Relations Board in Washington and fought in the Second World War as an infantryman in the Vosges, among other places . After the war he was appointed to Yale University, where he was later appointed Sterling Professor of Political Science . He was president of the American Political Science Association , a member of the National Academy of Sciences , the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1960), the American Philosophical Society (1960), the British Academy (1973) and an author in the field of political sociology . In 1986 he retired.

Act

Dahl became known for his work on democratic theory , with the political science term polyarchy being closely linked to his name. His work on democracy - especially his studies on "participation" and "plurality" - received international attention. In 1995 he was awarded the Johan Skytte Prize .

In the 1960s, Dahl had a policy discussion with Charles Wright Mills about the nature of US political rule structures, which he had described in his book The Power Elite . Mills examined relationships among military, political and industrial leaders and observed that most of them had attended an elite university, were members of the same exclusive clubs, and often married within their narrow elite circle. In his analysis, he came to the conclusion that a three-part elite coalition (holders of top positions in large companies, in the political executive and in the military) hold the decisive positions of power, these positions are closely intertwined and that their interests have converged . Little was left of the required pluralism , which is supposed to promote the control and distribution of power. These theses criticized numerous sociologists and political scientists, including Dahl. He particularly objected to the sociometric reputation method used by Mills and countered it in his work Who Governs? with the decision-making method - both procedures that are very familiar today in power and elite research in political sociology . (See also Power Structure Research .)

Works (selection)

  • 2006. On Political Equality , 2006, 120 S., Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-12687-7 (Topics: the foundations of democracy, the importance of political participation for democracy, a scale for the degree of polyarchy, two future scenarios); Translation: Gabriele Gockel, Barbara Steckham, Thomas Wollermann: Political equality - an ideal? Hamburger Edition, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 978-3-936096-72-9 .
  • 2003. How democratic is the American Constitution? New Haven, Conn. ISBN 0-300-09524-4 .
  • 1998. On Democracy , ISBN 978-0-300-08455-9
  • 1989. Democracy and its critics , New Haven and London, ISBN 0-300-04938-2
  • 1982. Dilemmas of Pluralist Democracy - Autonomy vs. Control. , New Haven and London, ISBN 0-300-03076-2 .
  • 1975. And after the revolution? Rule in a society of free people. Frankfurt ISBN 3-593-32066-5 .
  • 1973. Tufte, Edward Roef: Size and democracy. Stanford Calif. ISBN 0-8047-0834-7 .
  • 1973. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven.
  • 1973. Governing the giant corporation. In: Corporate power in America, pp. 10–24.
  • 1973. Equality and power in American society. In: Urban politics and public policy. The city in crisis, pp. 55-64.
  • 1972. Democracy in the United States. Promise and performance. Chicago ISBN 0-528-65294-X .
  • 1971. Polyarchy. Participation and opposition. New Haven, Conn. ISBN 0-300-01565-8 .
  • 1971. After the revolution? Authority in a good society. New Haven ISBN 0-300-01447-3 .
  • 1968. A critique of the ruling elite model. In: Charles Wright Mills and the power elite, pp. 25-36.
  • 1967. The evaluation of political systems. In: Contemporary political science: toward empirical theory, pp. 166–181.
  • 1967. Pluralist democracy in the United States. Conflict and consent. Chicago.
  • 1966. Some explanations. In: Political oppositions in Western democracies, pp. 348–386.
  • 1966. Political oppositions in Western democracies. New Haven.
  • 1966. Patterns of opposition. In: Political oppositions in Western democracies, pp. 332–347.
  • 1966. Lindblom, Charles E .: Social techniques. In: Public policies and their politics, pp. 1–13.
  • 1965. Who governs? Democracy and power in an American city. New Haven.
  • 1964. Power in an American city. The executive-centered coalition. In: Political leadership in American government, pp. 324–347.
  • 1964. Congress and foreign policy. New York.
  • 1963. Modern political analysis. Englewood Cliffs NJ.
  • 1963. A preface to democratic theory. Chicago Ill.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Robert Dahl Dead: Yale Political Scientist Dies At 98 ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.huffingtonpost.com
  2. ↑ Robert Dahl, Sterling Professor Emeritus in Political Science, passes away
  3. ↑ Where would we be without Robert Dahl? An obituary
personal data
SURNAME Dahl, Robert Alan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dahl, Robert A.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American political scientist
DATE OF BIRTH December 17, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Inwood , Iowa
DATE OF DEATH 5th February 2014
Place of death Hamden , Connecticut