Robert A Dahl Popular Books

Robert A Dahl Biography & Facts

Robert Alan Dahl (; December 17, 1915 – February 5, 2014) was an American political theorist and Sterling Professor of Political Science at Yale University. He established the pluralist theory of democracy—in which political outcomes are enacted through competitive, if unequal, interest groups—and introduced "polyarchy" as a descriptor of actual democratic governance. An originator of "empirical theory" and known for advancing behavioralist characterizations of political power, Dahl's research focused on the nature of decision making in actual institutions, such as American cities. He is the most important scholar associated with the pluralist approach to describing and understanding both city and national power structures. In addition to his work on the descriptive theory of democracy, he was long occupied with the formulation of the constituent elements of democracy considered as a theoretical but realizable ideal. By virtue of the cogency, clarity, and veracity of his portrayal of some of the key characteristics of realizable-ideal democracy, as well as his descriptive analysis of the dynamics of modern pluralist-democracy, he is considered one of the greatest theorists of democracy in history. Biography Dahl was born in Inwood, Iowa, on December 17, 1915. His father Peter came from a Norwegian family, while his mother Vera came from a Protestant American background. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Washington in 1936 and his Ph.D. from Yale in 1940. After receiving his Ph.D., Dahl worked in the government in Washington DC and then volunteered for a spell in the US army. He served in Europe during World War II, was the leader of a small reconnaissance platoon in an infantry regiment, and earned a Bronze Star. He led a platoon that took part in a major offensive in November 1944. After World War II, Dahl returned to Yale in 1946, where he was offered a temporary position teaching American government. The position became permanent, and Dahl remained at Yale his entire career, until his retirement in 1986. He was Eugene Meyer Professor of Political Science from 1955 to 1964, and Sterling Professor from 1964 to 1986. Dahl was departmental chair from 1957 to 1962. Dahl served as president of the American Political Science Association in 1966/67. Dahl was married to Mary Bartlett until her passing in 1970, and then to Ann Sale, a Presbyterian. Awards and honors Over his career, Dahl received many prestigious awards and prizes. 1950 Guggenheim fellow 1955–1956 Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences 1960 American Academy of Arts and Sciences [1] 1962 Dahl's book Who Governs? is awarded the 1962 Woodrow Wilson Foundation Book Award.[2] 1967 Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences 1972 National Academy of Sciences 1978 Guggenheim fellow 1990 Dahl's work Democracy and Its Critics (1989) won the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Book Award.[3] 1995 Dahl was the first recipient of the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science in 1995. 2016 Robert A. Dahl Award was established in honor of Dr. Robert Dahl by the American Political Science Association in 2016. American Philosophical Society British Academy (as a corresponding fellow). Academic research Early writings and pluralism In his doctoral thesis in 1940, Dahl critiqued "corporate capitalism" and state socialism as both exemplifying undemocratic traits, arguing for economic democracy and a form of democratic socialism. A similar theme recurred in his A Preface to Economic Democracy in 1985. Dahl's influential early books include A Preface to Democratic Theory (1956), Who Governs? (1961), and Pluralist Democracy in the United States (1967), which presented pluralistic explanations for political rule in the United States. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he was involved in an academic disagreement with C. Wright Mills over the nature of politics in the United States. Mills held that America's governments are in the grasp of a unitary and demographically narrow power elite. Dahl responded that there are many different elites involved, who have to work both in contention and in compromise with one another. If this is not democracy in a populist sense, Dahl contended, it is at least polyarchy (or pluralism). In perhaps his best known work, Who Governs? (1961), he examines the power structures (both formal and informal) in the city of New Haven, Connecticut, as a case study, and finds that it supports this view. From the late 1960s onwards, his conclusions were challenged by scholars such as G. William Domhoff and Charles E. Lindblom (a friend and colleague of Dahl). Writing on power and influence One of his many contributions is his explication of the varieties of power, which he defines as A getting B to do what A wants. Dahl prefers the more neutral "influence terms" (Michael G. Roskin), which he arrayed on a scale from best to worst: Rational persuasion, the nicest form of influence, means telling the truth and explaining why someone should do something, like a doctor convincing a patient to stop smoking. Manipulative persuasion, a notch lower, means lying or misleading to get someone to do something. Inducement, still lower, means offering rewards or punishments to get someone to do something, like bribery. Power threatens severe punishment, such as jail or loss of a job. Coercion is power with no way out. Physical force is backing up coercion with use or threat of bodily harm. Thus, the governments that use influence at the higher end of the scale are best. The worst use the unpleasant forms of influence at the lower end. Writing on democracy and polyarchies Dahl wrote many books on democracy throughout his career. The most influential are Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition (1971) and Democracy and Its Critics (1989). In Polyarchy, Dahl uses the term "polyarchy" to refer to actual cases of democracy and provides a comprehensive discussion of possible causes of polyarchy. Criteria of a democratic process In his book, Democracy and Its Critics, Dahl clarifies his view about democracy. No modern country meets the ideal of democracy, which is as a theoretical utopia. More specifically, argued that five criteria could be used for evaluating how democratic a process is: Effective participation - All members ought to have equal and effective opportunities to make their views known to other members. Voting equality - All members ought to have an equal and effective opportunity to vote, with votes counted as equal. Enlightened understanding - All members must have equal and effective opportunities to learn about the consequences and alternatives of a proposal. Control of the agenda - All members must have the exclusive opportunity to choose if or how matters will be placed on the agenda. Inclusion of adults - All or most of adult permanent residents should be given the full rights of the above four criteria. Institutions of polyarchy How.... 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