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David Easton
Position:
Distinguished Research Professor, Political Science
School of Social Sciences

picture of David  Easton
Degrees:
PH.D., Harvard University
M.A., University of Toronto
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
 
Address
University of California
4251 Social Sciences Plaza B
Mail Code: 5100
Irvine, CA 92697
Phone:
(949) 824-6132
Fax:
(949) 824-8762, 5180
Email:
deaston@uci.edu
URLs
Foundations of Modern Poltical Science-Syllabus Fall - 2008
UCI Library Course Reserves/E-Reserves
Updated 11/02/2009

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