David Easton

Picture of David Easton
Distinguished Research Professor, Political Science
School of Social Sciences
PH.D., Harvard University
M.A., University of Toronto
Phone: (949) 824-6132
Fax: (949) 824-8762, 5180
Email: deaston@uci.edu
University of California, Irvine
4251 Social Sciences Plaza B
Mail Code: 5100
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
Political Systems, Political Structures, Political Theory, Philosophy of Science
Research Abstract
Professor Easton is a former President of the American Political Science Association, is a past Vice President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been particularly interested in elaborating a systems analytical approach as a central means of understanding how political systems operate. In recent years he has turned to structural constraints as a second major element underlying political systems. Easton recently completed a book about the influence of political structure on various aspects of political life. Professor Easton has also written widely on the state and development of political science and on the political socialization of children. A recent project dealt with the development of the social sciences in China. This led to an exchange relationship between UCI and Beijing University and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and reflects a developing campuswide interest in the Pacific Rim. Another project, through the International Committee for the Study of the Development of Political Science (which he took the initiative in organizing and chaired), involves the collective efforts of political scientists from many countries devoted to exploring the current state and development of political science worldwide. He has also been associated with a project inquiring into the effects that variations in the structure and organization of democratic political systems have on the effectiveness of their public policies. Professor Easton teaches courses on empirical political theory, political systems analysis, the foundations of modern political science, and structural analysis of politics.
Publications
"Oral History of David Easton: An Autobiographical Sketch," in M.Jewell, M. Baer and L. Sigelman (eds.), The Development of a Discipline: Oral Histories in Political Science, University of Lexington Press, 1991
The Political System, Knopf, 1953, 1971 (2nd ed.); re-issued, University of Chicago Press, 1981
A Framework for Political Analysis, Prentice-Hall, 1965
Varieties of Political Theory,(ed.), Prentic-Hall, 1966
Children in the Political System, (with J. Dennis), McGraw-Hill, 1969; re-issued, University of Chicago Press, 1980
A Systems Analysis of Political Life, Wiley, 1965; re-issued University of Chicago Press, 1979
The Analysis of Political Structure. Routledge, 1990.
Divided Knowledge: Across Disciplines, Across Cultures (ed. with C. Schelling) Sage, 1991.
The Development of Political Science: A Comparative Survey. (Ed. with J. Gunnell, and L. Graziano) Routledge, 1991.
Regime and Discipline: Democracy and the Development of Political Science. (ed. with J. Gunnell and M. Stein) University of Michigan Press, 1995.
Professional Societies
American Political Science Association
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Graduate Programs
Political Science
Last updated
11/02/2009