In Memoriam

Juan Linz, 1926-2013


Juan was a towering figure in 20th-century social science, whose many contributions included the study of authoritarian regimes and of the processes of democratization. He was also an institution at Yale, where, most recently, he was Sterling Professor Emeritus of Political and Social Science.  Juan came to Yale in 1968 as a professor of sociology and political science. In 1977 he was named the Pelatiah Perit Professor of Political and Social Science, and, in 1989, Sterling Professor. He retired in 1998 but remained active in theintellectual life of both departments until very recently. He trained generations of graduate students and continued to work closely with graduate students throughout his retirement. His warmth, humor and vibrant intellect will be remembered by all whose lives he touched.Juan was the former Chairman of the Committee on Political Sociology of the International Sociological Association and the International Political Science Association. His publications include Crisis, Breakdown and Reequilibration, an introductory volume to The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes; a series of essays which he edited with Alfred Stepan; “Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes” in F. Greenstein and N. Polsby (eds.), Handbook of Political Science; and essays on Spanish politics and society in collective volumes edited by E. Allardt, R. Dahl, S. Eisenstadt, G. Hermet, S. Huntington, C. Moore, S.M. Lipset, V. Lorwin, J. Price, and R. Rose, among others. In Spanish, he wrote monographs on business and local elites, a book on Spanish politics after Franco, particularly on the party system and public opinion, and a study of Basque politics Conflicto en Euskadi; and in Italian a long essay on the work of Robert Michels. His research interests included the comparative study of regimes, particularly authoritarian regimes, and transitions to democracy in Southern Europe and Latin America; the comparative study of parties, elections, elites and public opinion in Europe (mainly Spain, Italy, and Germany); religion, intellectuals and politics. His most recent books were, co-authored with Alfred Stepan, Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America and Post-Communist Europe; and, with H. E. Chehabi,
Sultanistic Regimes, published by The Johns Hopkins University Press.