Robert A Dahl
Biographic Data
| ID | 249186 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Robert A Dahl |
| GIVEN NAMES | Robert A |
| FAMILY NAME | Dahl |
| SIGNATURE | DAHL R A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Yale University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1120-0417 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 79 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1889 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 79 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1947 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 15 |
Robert A. Dahl: Fünf Briefe. Erschienen in: Robert A. Dahl, 2017, From Boston to Berlin: One Man‘s War in Letters. Bookbaby
Seit 2010 bietet die ZPTh – Zeitschrift für Politische Theorie der wissenschaftlichen Community der Politischen Theorie sowie ihrer verwandten Fächer sowohl klassische Abhandlungen als auch innovative Serviceangebote
On Democracy
Written by the preeminent democratic theorist of our time, this book explains the nature, value, and mechanics of democracy. In a new introduction to this Veritas edition, Ian Shapiro considers how Dahl would respond to the ongoing challenges democracy faces in the modern world. “Within the liberal democratic camp there is considerable controversy about exactly how to define democracy. Probably the most influential voice among contemporary politi…
The Science of Public Administration: Three Problems
The effort to create a science of public administration has often led to the formulation of universal laws or, more commonly, to the assertion that such universal laws could be formulated for public administration. The basic problems of public administration as a discipline and as a potential science are much wider than the problems of mere administration. The first difficulty of constructing a science of public administration stems from the freq…
Further Reflections on “The Elitist Theory of Democracy”
This chapter distinguishes two different streams of thought: one consisting of writers sympathetic to popular rule, the other consisting of anti-democratic writers. It argues that writers from the earliest times have understood that popular regimes, like other regimes, would inevitably have leaders. The heterogeneous collection of writers whose attention to the problems of leadership in popular orders stirs Professor Walker to regard them as "eli…
Power as the Control of Behavior
In approaching the study of politics through the analysis of power, one assumes, at a minimum, that relations of power are among the significant aspects of a political system. Power terms evidently cover a very broad category of human relations. Political systems are often characterized explicitly or implicitly by the differences in 'amounts' of power exercised by different individuals, groups, or strata. The magnitude of C's power with respect t…
On Political Equality
Robert A. Dahl, one of the world’s most influential and respected political scientists, has spent a lifetime exploring the institutions and practices of democracy in such landmark books as Who Governs? , On Democracy , and How Democratic Is the American Constitution? Here, Dahl looks at the fundamental issue of equality and how and why governments have fallen short of their democratic ideals. At the center of the book is the question of whether t…
A Conversation with Robert A. Dahl
Editor's Note Robert A. Dahl, the foremost living theorist of democracy, is the emeritus Sterling Professor of Political Science at Yale University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1940 and where he spent virtually his entire academic career. After five years working for the government—as a management analyst at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, then as an economist in the Office of Price Administration and the War Production Board, and finally …
How Democratic Is the American Constitution?
A Brilliant Scholar and a Loyal Friend
The concept of power
What is "power"? Most people have an intuitive notion of what it means. But scientists have not yet formulated a statement of the concept of power that is rigorous enough to be of use in the systematic study of this important social phenomenon. Power is here defined in terms of a relation between people, and is expressed in simple symbolic notation. From this definition is developed a statement of power comparability, or the relative degree of po…
A Preface to Democratic Theory, Expanded Edition
Political Equality, Then and Now
For this audience l hardly need to quote Tocqueville often-cited opening remarks in the first volume of his Democracy in America on "the general equality of conditions" that, he believed, prevailed among Americans in 1830. You are all familiar, too, with his observation that equality of condition had gradually spread in France since the eleventh century, and his conclusion that the gradual development of the equality of conditios is... a providen…
James Madison: Republican or Democrat
Although James Madison is best known for the views he expressed in the Federalist, as he gained greater experience in the new American political system he rejected some of these early views and increasingly emphasized four propositions: (1) the greatest threat in the American republic comes from a minority, not the majority; (2) to protect their rights from minority factions, members of the majority faction must organize their own political party…
What Political Institutions Does Large-Scale Democracy Require
A Right to Workplace Democracy? Response to Robert Mayer
The disagreements between Professor Mayer and me turn to some extent on legitimate differences in interpreting and understanding my intentions and text, and to a larger extent on differences in the ways we interpret and understand certain important economic and political aspects of the world in which we live. I believe my argument is more consequentialist than he understands it to be. The question is: consequences for what ends, goals, or values?…
Parcours de recherche
A Democratic Paradox
Can international organizations be democratic? A skeptic's view
Can international organizations, institutions, or processes be democratic? I argue that they cannot be. Any argument along these lines raises the question, "What is democracy?" or, better, "What do I mean by democracy?" If I can say what democracy is, presumably I can also say what democracy is not, or to put it another way, what is not a democracy. In brief: an international organization is not and probably cannot be a democracy.
On Democracy
La democracia y sus críticos
De la démocratie délibérative: Comment réformer le système de santé
Reflections on a Half Century of Political Science: Lecture Given by the Winner of the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science, Uppsala, 30 September 1995
Since I am to have the honour this evening of being presented with the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science, it seemed to me that it might be appropriate to say something about the development of political science. Do not fear, however, that I am about to begin my reflections with the study of government in 1622, a task that would greatly exceed my time, my competence and, I imagine, your patience. On a much more modest scale, let me mention a…
Equality versus Inequality
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Justifying democracy
Presidency by Plebiscite: The Reagan-Bush Era in Institutional Perspective, by Craig A. Rimmerman
The concept of power
What is "power"? Most people have an intuitive notion of what it means. But scientists have not yet formulated a statement of the concept of power that is rigorous enough to be of use in the systematic study of this important social phenomenon. Power is here defined in terms of a relation between people, and is expressed in simple symbolic notation. From this definition is developed a statement of power comparability, or the relative degree of po…
A Critique of the Ruling Elite Model
A great many people seem to believe that "they" run things: the old families, the bankers, the City Hall machine, or the party boss behind the scene. This kind of view evidently has a powerful and many-sided appeal. It is simple, compelling, dramatic, "realistic." It gives one standing as an inside-dopester. For individuals with a strong strain of frustrated idealism, it has just the right touch of hard-boiled cynicism. Finally, the hypothesis ha…
A Preface to Democratic Theory, Expanded Edition
The City in the Future of Democracy
I need hardly remind this audience that one of the characteristics of our field is the large number of old and quite elemental questions-elemental but by no means elementary-for which we have no compelling answers. I don't mean that we have no answers to these questions. On the contrary, we often have a rich variety of conflicting answers. But no answer compels acceptance in the same way as a proof of a theorem in mathematics, or a very nice fit …
A Democratic Dilemma: System Effectiveness versus Citizen Participation
The unexpected rise in opposition to the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 reflected in part an abrupt heightening of awareness about possible trade-offs that the designers and supporters of the treaty had largely ignored. The treaty was intended to create in due time a common currency among the twelve members of the European Union (EU), common policies on defense and foreign affairs, and greater authority for the EU over many of the policies social, eco…
The Behavioral Approach in Political Science: Epitaph for a Monument to a Successful Protest
Perhaps the most striking characteristic of the "behavioral approach" in political science is the ambiguity of the term itself, and of its synonym "political behavior." The behavioral approach, in fact, is rather like the Loch Ness monster: one can say with considerable confidence what it is not, but it is difficult to say what it is. Judging from newspaper reports that appear from time to time, particularly just before the summer tourist season,…
The Problem of Civic Competence
Pluralism Revisited
"Further Reflections on "The Elitist Theory of Democracy
An interest in the roles, functions, contributions, and dangers of leadership in popular regimes is not, of course, new among observers of political life. This has, in fact, been an ancient and enduring interest of political theorists. It is possible, however, to distinguish-at least in a rough way-two different streams of thought: one consisting of writers sympathetic to popular rule, the other consisting of anti-democratic writers.It has always…
On Removing Certain Impediments to Democracy in the United States
Journal Article On Removing Certain Impediments to Democracy in the United States Get access Robert A. Dahl Robert A. Dahl ROBERT A. DAHL is Sterling Professor of Political Science at Yale University. He is the author of A Preface to Democratic Theory, Who Governs?, After the Revolution?, and other works. He is now working on two books on democratic theory. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Political Science…
Business and Politics: A Critical Appraisal of Political Science
For all the talk and all the public curiosity about the relations between business and politics, there is a remarkable dearth of studies on the subject. Whatiswritten is more likely to come from the pen of a sociologist, an historian, a lawyer, or an economist than from a political scientist. One would suppose that the role of business, particularly big business, in the political system would be a matter of central concern to political scientists…
Myth of the Presidential Mandate
not simply a mandate for a change but a mandate for peace and freedom; a mandate for prosperity; a mandate for opportunity for all Americans regardless of race, sex, or creed; a mandate for leadership that is both strong and compassionate . .. a mandate to make government the servant of the people in the way our founding fathers intended; a mandate for hope; a mandate for hope for the fulfillment of the great dream that President-elect Reagan has…
A Democratic Paradox
Controlling Nuclear Weapons: Democracy versus Guardianship
Argues that decisions about nuclear weapons and strategy have escaped the control of the democratic process and discusses how to deal with complex issues in a democratic fashion
Reflections on Opposition in Western Democracies
To one who believes in the essential worth of a democratic polity, how much opposition is desirable, and what kinds? What is the best balance between consensus and dissent ? Even among democrats there is not much agreement on the answers to these questions.It is easy to see why. These questions seem to demand nothing less than a complicated assessment of democracy itself. Or to put the matter more precisely, one can judge the desirability of diff…
What Political Institutions Does Large-Scale Democracy Require
Political Theory: Truth and Consequences
Bertrand de Jouvenel is one of a very small group of writers in our own time who make a serious effort to develop political theory in the grand style. In the English-speaking world, where so many of the interesting political problems have been solved (at least superficially), political theory is dead. In the Communist countries it is imprisoned. Elsewhere it is moribund. In the West, this is the age of textual criticism and historical analysis, w…
Why Free Markets Are Not Enough
Why Free Markets Are Not Enough Robert A. Dahl (bio) It is a striking and frequently noted fact that modem democracy has existed only in countries with economic systems in which production and distribution are mainly carried on by privately owned enterprises that are strongly oriented toward markets—that is, in countries with capitalist economic systems. Though not all capitalist countries are or have been democratic, all democratic countries hav…
Small-Town Politics: A Study of Political Life in Glossop
A Right to Workplace Democracy? Response to Robert Mayer
The disagreements between Professor Mayer and me turn to some extent on legitimate differences in interpreting and understanding my intentions and text, and to a larger extent on differences in the ways we interpret and understand certain important economic and political aspects of the world in which we live. I believe my argument is more consequentialist than he understands it to be. The question is: consequences for what ends, goals, or values?…
Power and Democracy in America
The Science of Politics: New and Old
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Social Science Research on Business: Product and Potential
Worker's Control of Industry and the British Labor Party
Socialist thought has long contained two potentially contradictory doctrines concerning the control or management of productive enterprises under a socialist régime. One of these is the idea of workers' control: the concept that under socialism workers will no longer be merely passive victims of the productive process, but, direct participants in the control of productive enterprises. The other is the idea of central control on behalf of the enti…
James Madison: Republican or Democrat
Although James Madison is best known for the views he expressed in the Federalist, as he gained greater experience in the new American political system he rejected some of these early views and increasingly emphasized four propositions: (1) the greatest threat in the American republic comes from a minority, not the majority; (2) to protect their rights from minority factions, members of the majority faction must organize their own political party…
Validity of Organizational Theories
The Science of Public Administration: Three Problems
Worker's Control of Industry and the British Labor Party
Socialist thought has long contained two potentially contradictory doctrines concerning the control or management of productive enterprises under a socialist régime. One of these is the idea of workers' control: the concept that under socialism workers will no longer be merely passive victims of the productive process, but, direct participants in the control of productive enterprises. The other is the idea of central control on behalf of the enti…
Marxism and Free Parties
Freedom, Power, and Democratic Planning
Congress and Foreign Policy
Domestic Control of Atomic Energy
Atomic Energy and the Democratic Process
Agricultural Policy. Rainer Schickele George N. Peek and the Fight for Farm Parity. Gilbert C. Fite
The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Volume 290: The Impact of Atomic Energy
Politics, Economics, and Welfare
Freedom and Control in Modern Society
Politics, Economics and Welfare
The Science of Politics: New and Old
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
A Rejoinder
To discuss all of the points at which we seem to disagree would be an unwarranted imposition upon readers of this Review, many of whom, I fear, will not have read the book in question. Consequently I propose to stick to the central issues so far as possible, for to a considerable extent these transcend the book itself; and therefore some purpose will be served even for those who have not read the book
Political Theory: Truth and Consequences
Bertrand de Jouvenel is one of a very small group of writers in our own time who make a serious effort to develop political theory in the grand style. In the English-speaking world, where so many of the interesting political problems have been solved (at least superficially), political theory is dead. In the Communist countries it is imprisoned. Elsewhere it is moribund. In the West, this is the age of textual criticism and historical analysis, w…
A Critique of the Ruling Elite Model
A great many people seem to believe that "they" run things: the old families, the bankers, the City Hall machine, or the party boss behind the scene. This kind of view evidently has a powerful and many-sided appeal. It is simple, compelling, dramatic, "realistic." It gives one standing as an inside-dopester. For individuals with a strong strain of frustrated idealism, it has just the right touch of hard-boiled cynicism. Finally, the hypothesis ha…
Small-Town Politics: A Study of Political Life in Glossop
Business and Politics: A Critical Appraisal of Political Science
For all the talk and all the public curiosity about the relations between business and politics, there is a remarkable dearth of studies on the subject. Whatiswritten is more likely to come from the pen of a sociologist, an historian, a lawyer, or an economist than from a political scientist. One would suppose that the role of business, particularly big business, in the political system would be a matter of central concern to political scientists…
Top Leadership, U.S.A. Floyd Hunter
Social Science Research on Business: Product and Potential
Social Science Research on Business: Product and Potential
The Behavioral Approach in Political Science: Epitaph for a Monument to a Successful Protest
Perhaps the most striking characteristic of the "behavioral approach" in political science is the ambiguity of the term itself, and of its synonym "political behavior." The behavioral approach, in fact, is rather like the Loch Ness monster: one can say with considerable confidence what it is not, but it is difficult to say what it is. Judging from newspaper reports that appear from time to time, particularly just before the summer tourist season,…
Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American City
Power and Democracy in America
Political science (68 works) · Law (57 works) · Politics (51 works) · Sociology (41 works) · Democracy (37 works) · Law (36 works) · Philosophy (20 works) · Computer Science (17 works) · Philosophy (15 works) · Economics (14 works)