Herbert Tingsten

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Herbert Lars Gustaf Tingsten (17 March 1896 – 26 December 1973) was a Swedish political scientist, writer and newspaper publisher. He was a professor of political science at Stockholm University from 1935 to 1946, and executive editor of the newspaper Dagens Nyheter from 1946 to 1959.

Herbert Tingsten was born in Järfälla, Stockholm County, the son of city servant Karl Tingsten and his wife Elin Bergenstjerna. He finished his doctoral thesis in 1923 while working as a secretary in the Swedish parliament's Committee on the Constitution. As a political scientist his main fields included constitutional history, constitutional law and the history of ideas.

Tingsten changed his political views several times during his life. In his early youth he was a conservative and later a radical left-wing liberal. During the 1920s he joined the Swedish Social Democratic Party and was on the left-wing faction of the party. In 1941 he wrote the book Den svenska socialdemokratiens idéutveckling ("The Ideological Development of the Swedish Social Democrats"), where he criticized the party for not fulfilling the marxist goals of nationalizations of the private industr. However, after reading Friedrich Hayek's The Road to Serfdom in 1944, Tingsten became a convinced believer of a free market economy and in 1945 he finally left the Social Democratic Party. He was one of the original participators of the Mont Pelerin Society founded in 1947.

Tingsten was an early opponent of Nazism, which he warned of during the early 1930s, as well as from the threat of Communism. During his time as executive editor of Dagens Nyheter, Tingsten argued for Swedish membership in NATO. He also supported Israel.

In a number of books and publications, Tingsten anticipated some of the major issues in the political developments of the 20th century, such as the rise of fascism, apartheid in South Africa, the transition of socialism into social democracy as well as the need for democratic vitality in Western societies. Tingsten had a deep erudition in both Anglo-Saxon and Continental European science and literature. He even created the concept of 'political behaviour' in his 1936 book, pioneering the analysis of election statistics.

[edit] Published works

Note: The following list includes original editions only, not later published or translated editions.
  • (1923) Folkomröstningsinstitutet i Nordamerikas Förenta Stater (in Swedish). 
  • (1926) Konstitutionella fullmaktslagar i modern parlamentaris (in Swedish). Lund: Gleerup. 
  • (1927) Förbudslagstiftningens resultat i Nordamerikas förenta stater (in Swedish). 
  • (1928) Studier över konstitutionsutskottets dechargeförfarande : några spörsmål i anknytning till senare praxis (in Swedish). 
  • (1929) Amerikansk demokrati : grunddragen av Förenta staternas statsliv (in Swedish). Stockholm: Natur och kultur. 
  • (1929) Studier rörande ministerstyrelse (in Swedish). 
  • (1930) Regeringsmaktens expansion under och efter världskriget : studier över konstitutionell fullmaktslagstiftning (in Swedish). Lund: Gleerup. 
  • (1930) Från parlamentarism till diktatur : fascismens erövring av Italien (in Swedish). Stockholm: Natur och kultur. 
  • (1935) Utredning angående införande av ett dagordningsinstitut m. m. (in Swedish). Stockholm: Nord. bokh. i distr.. 
  • (1936) Den nationella diktaturen : nazismens och fascismens idéer (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonnier. 
  • (1937) Political behavior : studies in election statistics (in English). London: P.S. King. 
  • (1939) De konservativa idéerna (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonnier. 
  • (1941) Den svenska socialdemokratiens idéutveckling (in Swedish). Stockholm: Tiden. 
  • (1941) Idékritik (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonnier. 
  • (1941) Problem i svensk demokrati (in Swedish). 
  • (1942) Samtidens förbundsstater (in Swedish). Stockholm: Kooperativa förbundet. 
  • (1943) Debatten om nordisk enhet (in Swedish). 
  • (1944) Svensk utrikesdebatt mellan världskrigen (in Swedish). Stockholm: Kooperativa förbundet. 
  • (1944) Engelsk kolonialdebatt (in Swedish). 
  • (1945) Fred och säkerhet efter andra världskriget : ett svenskt diskussionsinlägg (in Swedish). Stockholm: Kooperativa förbundet. 
  • (1945) Demokratiens problem (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 
  • (1948) Problem i U.S.A. (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonnier. 
  • (1948) Argument (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonnier. 
  • (1950) Revolutionernas arvtagare : sydamerikanskt perspektiv (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonnier. 
  • (1950) Västtysklands problem (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonnier. 
  • (1951) Tredje ståndpunkten - en orimlighet (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonnier. 
  • (1953) Idéer och genier (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonnier. 
  • (1954) Problemet Sydafrika (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonnier. 
  • (1955) Parti och politik (in Swedish). Stockholm: Ehlins. 
  • (1956) Japan (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonnier. 
  • (1957) Det hotade Israel (in Swedish). Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand. 
  • (1958) På krigsstigen (in Swedish). Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand. 
  • (1958) På marknadstorget (in Swedish). Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand. 
  • (1963) Åsikter och motiv : [essayer i statsvetenskapliga, politiska och litterära ämnen] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Aldus/Bonnier. 
  • (1961-1964) Mitt liv (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 
  • (1964) Skall kungamakten stärkas? : kritik av författningsförslaget (in Swedish). Stockholm: Aldus/Bonnier. 
  • (1965) Viktoria och viktorianerna (in Swedish). Stockholm: Aldus/Bonnier. 
  • (1966) När Churchill grep makten och andra essayer (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 
  • (1966) Från idéer till idyll : den lyckliga demokratien (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 
  • (1966) Strid kring idyllen (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 
  • (1967) Notiser om liv och död (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 
  • (1968) Dagbok från Amerika (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 
  • (1969) Min politiska horisont och andra essayer (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 
  • (1969) Gud och fosterlandet : studier i hundra års skolpropaganda (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 
  • (1970) När skymningen faller på (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 
  • (1970) Perspektiv på näringslivsdebatten (in Swedish). 
  • (1971) Sällskap för mina tankar (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. ISBN 91-1-715742-0. 
  • (1972) Flyktförsök : notiser 1971-1972 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. ISBN 91-1-725682-8. 
Persondata
NAME Tingsten, Herbert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tingsten, Herbert Lars Gustaf (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION Swedish political scientist, writer and newspaper publisher
DATE OF BIRTH 17 March 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Järfälla, Sweden
DATE OF DEATH 26 December 1973
PLACE OF DEATH