Political Science in America: Oral Histories of a Discipline

University of Kentucky UKnowledge American Politics Political Science 1991 Political Science in America: Oral Histories of a Discipline Michael A. Baer Northeastern University Malcolm E. Jewell University of Kentucky Lee Sigelman University of Arizona Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Baer, Michael A.; Jewell, Malcolm E.; and Sigelman, Lee, "Political Science in America: Oral Histories of a Discipline" (1991). American Politics. 19. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_political_science_american_politics/19 Political Science in America This page intentionally left blank Political Science in America Oral Histories ofa Discipline MICHAEL A. BAER MALCOLM E. JEWELL LEE SIGELMAN, Editors THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY Copyright © 1991 by the University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine College, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Club, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. Editorial and Sales Offices: Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008 ISBN: 978-0-8131-5088-8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Political science in Alnerica : oral histories of a discipline I Michael A. Baer, Malcohn E. Jewell, Lee Sigehnan, editors. p. Clll. Includes index. 1. Political scientists-United States-Interviews. 2. Political science-United States-History-20th century. I. Baer, Michael A., 1943- . II. Jewell, Malcohn Edwin, 1928- . III. Sigehnan, Lee. JA92.P63 1991 320'.092'273-dc20 91-9064 This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. @ CONTENTS Introduction 1 Charles Hyneman 6 E. Pendleton Herring 22 Belle Zeller 40 Emmette S. Redford 52 R. Taylor Cole 67 Marian D. Irish 82 C. Herman Pritchett 107 Gabriel Almond 121 David Truman 135 Robert Martin 152 Robert A. Dahl 166 Heinz Eulau 179 David Easton 195 Austin Ranney 215 Warren E. Miller 231 Appendix 248 Index 249 This page intentionally left blank INTRODUCTION This book is an effort to enable political scientists to find their intel lectual roots through the study of interviews with prominent political scientists. Unlike some of the other social sciences, political science, has done relatively little to convey a sense of disciplinary heritage to those who are just entering the field. The history of psychology is recognized as a respectable subfield of that discipline, and the Amer ican Economic Review regularly publishes photographs of past presi dents of the American Economics Association, but political scientists seem relatively unconscious of their discipline's past. The most recent history of the discipline is The Development ofAmerican Political Sci ence: From Burgess to Behavioralism, which has appeared in two edi tions (Albert Somit and Joseph Tanenhaus, 1967 and 1982). The Political Science Oral History Program began in the late 1970s as an effort to preserve the experiences and perspectives of ma jor figures in the profession so that future political scientists will be able to hear and read what they had to say about their lives, their careers, and their involvement in the discipline. The American Polit ical Science Association (APSA) operated the program for several years with financial assistance from Pi Sigma Alpha, the political sci ence honorary. APSA's attempt to attract external funding for the project proved to no avail, and, in 1982, Pi Sigma Alpha accepted responsibility for the program and continued to provide some financial support. In the period from 1981 through 1986, about ten more inter views were completed, and most of them were transcribed and cor rected, but the pace of interviewing slowed. In 1987, Pi Sigma Alpha and the American Political Science Asso ciation decided to transfer the program to the University of Kentucky and to provide financial support beyond that offered by the university. The change gave the project a stronger professional base and in creased the rate of interviews. Since the program was transferred to Kentucky, fifteen more interviews have been completed and tran scribed, and several others have been scheduled. 2 POLITICAL SCIENCE IN AMERICA Malcolm E. Jewell of the University of Kentucky political science department directs the program and is responsible for planning and scheduling interviews. He is advised by a five-member committee from the American Political Science Association and Pi Sigma Alpha, chaired by Karl Cerney. Their plan is to complete and transcribe about ten interviews per year. The experienced oral history staff of the University of Kentucky's M.I. King Library, directed by Terry Birdwhistell, has assumed responsibility for compiling transcriptions and maintaining materials. These interviews trace the intellectual and institutional growth of political science by recording the very words and ideas of individuals who have played important roles in its development. When the pro gram was initiated, it was already too late to interview those who might be described as the early giants of the profession: A. Lawrence Lowell, Charles Merriam, Edward Corwin, Arthur Holcombe, Leon ard White, and Frederic Ogg. Sadly, we also missed the opportunity to record the views of many leaders of the second generation, includ ing Harold Lasswell, V.O. Key, E.E. Schattschneider, Carl Friedrich, and Ralph Bunche. In its early years, the program did interview a number of the men and a few of the women who played major roles in the development of political science. Typically, these people received their graduate train ing in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of them served in Washington dur ing the war years, and their teaching and research careers spanned the period from the end of World War II into the 1970s. Charles Hyneman was the first subject, interviewed initially by Elinor Ostrom and later by both Austin Ranney and Evron Kirkpatrick. About a dozen political scientists were interviewed between 1978 and 1980, chosen as a result of a survey of leading political scientists conducted by the American Political Science Association. In the last few years, we have filled some gaps by interviewing more people from that early generation, and we have begun to inter view members of the second generation, typically those who either retired or achieved senior status during the 1980s. Because the num ber of political scientists in that generation who made important con tributions is so large and their activities and interests are so diverse, it was challenging to select a small group of "great men and women" for interviews. For recent interviews, and those that will be done in the next few years, we have followed a strategy of diversity. The subjects are inter viewed, in most cases, by professional colleagues who have known them for many years and therefore are able to ask detailed, informed questions about their careers, research, and viewpoints. We inter viewed people who played significant roles in the major intellectual Introduction 3 developments in the discipline and who participated in major re search projects in recent decades. Several of the individuals are polit ical scientists who have held major university administrative positions. We are particularly interested in interviewing those who have been deeply involved in major institutional developments in the profession, such as the American Political Science Association and its Review, the Social Science Research Council and its major committees, the Inter University Consortium for Political and Social Research, and the Na tional Election Studies. We also intend to interview more persons who have played leading roles in regional political science associations and journals. We are currently giving priority to interviews that trace the role of black and women political scientists. Interviews have already been conducted with a few of the senior blacks and women in the profes sion. Funding has been obtained to expand the number of interviews with black political scientists, and a similar effort is under way for women. In both cases, we will try to interview some members of the earlier generation and some of the leading political scientists who are still active in the profession. Just as the selection of political scientists to be interviewed must be limited by the funds and time available, the material selected for this volume has been restricted to a small portion of the recorded interviews. Several guiding criteria determined what materials would be included. First, we wished to provide a description of the devel opment of the discipline from the viewpoint of scholars involved in several subdisciplinary areas: public administration, international re lations, comparative politics, political behavior, political theory, and so on. Second, we wanted to present a perspective on the influence of the major institutions involved in the training of political scientists in the early days of

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