Robert Dahl | |
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 Dahl teaching a political science class at Yale University | |
| Born | Robert Alan Dahl December 17, 1915 Inwood, Iowa, U.S. |
| Died | February 5, 2014 (aged 98) Hamden, Connecticut, U.S. |
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| Children | 5 |
| Awards | Johan Skytte Prize (1995) |
| Academic background | |
| Education |
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| Thesis | Socialist Programs and Democratic Politics: An Analysis |
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| Influences | |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Political science |
| Sub-discipline | Political theory |
| Institutions | Yale University |
| Notable students | |
| Main interests | Democracy, Democratization |
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Robert Alan Dahl (/dɑːl/; 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.[1][2] He is the most important scholar associated with the pluralist approach to describing and understanding both city and national power structures.[3]
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.
- ^ Rodrigues, Adrien; Lloyd-Thomas, Matthew (February 7, 2014). "Dahl's Legacy Remembered". Yale Daily News. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
- ^ Campbell, John C. (Fall 1985). "Controlling Nuclear Weapons: Democracy Versus Guardianship". Foreign Affairs. No. Fall 1985. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
- ^ Caves, R. W. (2004). Encyclopedia of the City. Routledge. p. 164.