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Eckstein Lecture on Democracy
The Eckstein Lecture was established to recognize Harry Eckstein's role as a co-founder of the Center for the Study of Democracy, and for his scholarly contributions to the study of democracy. He was one of the most prominent and respected social scientists of the second half of the twentieth century. The sweep of Eckstein's intellect and the depth of his learning were all but unique in a discipline that has experienced increasing specialization. His reputation is based, in part, on sustained, cumulative, innovative use of culture as an organizing concept for the rigorous study of politics.
His classic monograph, A Theory of Stable Democracy (Princeton, 1961) sketches out the basic tenets of "congruence theory," which has become one of the most important tools for understanding democratic rule. Throughout the rest of his career he continued to write and teach about the conditions fostering democracy, and the conditions that impeded democratic politics, ranging from studies of Norwegian democracy to the emergence of democracy in contemporary Russia. His major books include Division and Cohesion in Democracy (Princeton University Press, 1966), Internal War (Free Press, 1964), Patterns of Authority (Wiley, 1975), Regarding Politics (University of California Press, 1992), and Can Democracy Take Root in Post-Soviet Russia? (Rowman and Littlefield, 1998).
Harry Eckstein was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1970-99), fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford (1958-59), Guggenheim fellow (1974), American Political Science Association vice president (1981-82), editor (1960-63) and member of the editorial board of World Politics (1960-80), a founding member of the editorial board of Comparative Political Studies (1966-99), the IBM Professor of International Studies at Princeton University (1969-80), UC Irvine's first Distinguished Professor (1980-93) and then Distinguished Research Professor (1993-99) of Political Science at UC Irvine. Eckstein came to the United States as a young child as part of an exodus from the Third Reich that became known as the One Thousand Children.
Our sincere thanks and appreciation to those friends and colleagues of Harry Eckstein who contributed to endow the Eckstein Lecture Fund.