Robert A. Dahl

Robert Alan Dahl (December 17, 1915 – February 5, 2014)^[1] was the Sterling Professor emeritus of political science at Yale University, where he earned his Ph.D. in political science in 1940. He was past president of the American Political Science Association and an honorary member of Manuscript Society. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) degree from Harvard University in 1998. Dahl was sometimes described as "the dean of American political scientists."^[2]

Writings

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.^{[citation needed]}

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). ^{[citation needed]}

In How Democratic Is the American Constitution? (2001) he argued that the constitution is much less democratic than it ought to be given that its authors were operating from a position of "profound ignorance" about the future. However, he adds that there is little or nothing that can be done about this "short of some constitutional breakdown, which I neither foresee nor, certainly, wish for." ^{[citation needed]}

Influence terms

One of Robert Dahl’s 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:

1. Rational Persuasion, the nicest form of influence, means telling the truth and explaining why someone should do something, like your doctor convincing you to stop smoking.
2. Manipulative persuasion, a notch lower, means lying or misleading to get someone to do something.
3. Inducement still lower, means offering rewards or punishments to get someone to do something, i.e. like bribery.
4. Power threatens severe punishment, such as jail or loss of job.
5. Coercion is power with no way out; you have to do it.
6. Physical force – is backing up coercion with use or threat of bodily harm.

Thus, we can tell which governments are best; the ones that use influence at the higher end of the scale. The worst use the unpleasant forms of influence at the lower end. ^{[citation needed]}

Democracy and polyarchies

See also main article on polyarchy

In his book, Democracy and Its Critics (1989), Dahl clarifies his view about democracy. No modern country meets the ideal of democracy, which is as a theoretical utopia. To reach the ideal requires meeting five criteria:^[3]

1. Effective participation
   Citizens must have adequate and equal opportunities to form their preference and place questions on the public agenda and express reasons for one outcome over the other.
2. Voting equality at the decisive stage
   Each citizen must be assured his or her judgments will be counted as equal in weights to the judgments of others.
3. Enlightened understanding
   Citizens must enjoy ample and equal opportunities for discovering and affirming what choice would best serve their interests.
4. Control of the agenda
   Demos or people must have the opportunity to decide what political matters actually are and what should be brought up for deliberation.
5. Inclusiveness
   Equality must extend to all citizens within the state. Everyone has legitimate stake within the political process.

Instead, he calls politically advanced countries "polyarchies". Polyarchies have elected officials, free and fair elections, inclusive suffrage, rights to run for office, freedom of expression, alternative information and associational autonomy. Those institutions are a major advance in that they create multiple centers of political power.^[4]

Prizes

Dahl was awarded the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science in 1995. ^{[citation needed]}

Criticism

• Sociologist G. William Domhoff strongly disagrees with Dahl's view of power in New Haven, CT in the 1960s: "Who Really Ruled in Dahl's New Haven?" ^{[citation needed]}
• Political philosopher Charles Blattberg has criticized Dahl's attempt to define democracy with a set of necessary and sufficient conditions. ^{[citation needed]}

Bibliography

The most well-known of Dahl's works include:

• 1953 - Politics, Economics, and Welfare (with Charles E. Lindblom)
• 1956 - A Preface to Democratic Theory (new edition in 2006)
• 1957 - The Concept of Power
• 1957 - Decision-Making in a Democracy: The Supreme Court as a National Policy-Maker
• 1960 - Social science research on business: product and potential
• 1961 - Who Governs?: Democracy and Power in an American City
• 1963 - Modern Political Analysis
• 1966 - Political oppositions in Western Democracies
• 1968 - Pluralist democracy in the United States : conflict and consent
• 1970 - After the Revolution? : Authority in a good society
• 1971 - Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition
• 1973 - Size and Democracy (with Edward R. Tufte)
• 1983 - Dilemmas of Pluralist Democracy: Autonomy vs. Control
• 1985 - A Preface to Economic Democracy
• 1985 - Controlling Nuclear Weapons: Democracy versus Guardianship
• 1989 - Democracy and Its Critics
• 1997 - Toward Democracy - a Journey: Reflections, 1940-1997
• 1998 - On Democracy
• 2002 - How Democratic Is the American Constitution?
• 2003 - The Democracy Sourcebook. (An anthology edited by Robert A. Dahl, Ian Shapiro and José Antonio Cheibub)
• 2005 - After The Gold Rush
• 2006 - On Political Equality

Works on Dahl and his research

• Interview by Richard Snyder: "Robert A. Dahl: Normative Theory, Empirical Research and Democracy," pp.113-49, in Gerardo L. Munck and Richard Snyder, Passion, Craft, and Method in Comparative Politics (Baltimore, Md.: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007).

References

Sources

• Roskin, Cord, Medeiros, Jones. (2008). Political Science: An Introduction,(10th Edition). New Jersey. ISBN 0-13-242576
• Jeong Chun Hai @Ibrahim, & Nor Fadzlina Nawi. (2007). Principles of Public Administration: An Introduction. Kuala Lumpur: Karisma Publications. ISBN 978-983-195-253-5

External links

• Robert A. Dahl in the Yale University website.
• Robert A. Dahl in the Encyclopedia Britannica.
• Annual Reviews Conversations Interview with Robert A. Dahl (video)