Juan José Linz (born 24 December 1926 in Bonn, Germany) is a Spanish sociologist and political scientist. He is Sterling Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Yale University and an honorary member of the Scientific Council at the Juan March Institute. He is best known for his theories on totalitarian and authoritarian systems of government.
Linz has also done extensive research on the breakdowns of democracy and the transition back to a democratic regime. He is the author of many works on the subject, including Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, co-authored with Alfred Stepan), his seminal work Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes (Rienner, 2000) and his influential essay 'The Perils of Presidentialism'.
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From a description of Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes:
Linz has received the Prince of Asturias Award of Social Sciences (1987), the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science (1996) and the IPSA Karl Deutsch Award (2003).