Political Science Who gets what? When and how do they get it?

Author: Harold D. Lasswell (USA)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-06-01
Features: Due to Meiriam's long tenure at the University of Chicago and his tenure as Chair of the Department of Political Science, a group of his colleagues and students inherited his legacy, becoming one of the most influential political scholars in the United States. This made the University of Chicago the headquarters of behaviorism for nearly three decades. Among these individuals, Lasswell, as Meiriam's most favored disciple and a key representative of the "Chicago School," was one of the main proponents and practitioners of the "New Political Science" movement, hailed as the "master of behaviorism." According to statistics on nominations in the 1940s, Lasswell was considered the second most influential political scientist, second only to Meiriam. After receiving his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Chicago in 1926, Lasswell earned additional doctorates in law from the University of Illinois, the University of Chicago, and Columbia University, as well as a doctorate in science from the University of Pennsylvania. Lasswell taught at Yale University and Stanford University and was a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. In 1955, Lasswell was elected as the president of the American Political Science Association, which became a significant milestone in the rise of behaviorism in American political science. Throughout his life, Lasswell authored over thirty books. Three of his works published in the 1930s already established his reputation in the field of American political science: Psychopathology and Politics (1930), World Politics and Individual Security (1935), and the one introduced here, Politics: Who Gets What, When, and How? (1936), collectively known as Lasswell's Trilogy. Among these, the latter is particularly noteworthy. In this work, Lasswell thoroughly explores how certain individuals use specific methods to acquire and maintain their particular interests, and he explains the impact of social change, especially major political events, on the distribution of values. These analyses are succinctly summarized in the book's subtitle, "Who Gets What, When, and How?" (or alternatively translated as "Whom, When, and How to Obtain What?"), which has become a classic statement widely cited by American political scientists regarding the nature of politics or the subject matter of political science.