Harold D. Lasswell: A Science of Politics and American Democracy
University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IA, PhD Thesis, (1986)Abstract
This is a study of the status of liberal democracy in the writings of Harold D. Lasswell. First, this work elaborates the challenge to the theory and practice of liberal democracy that Laswell presented through his application of a naturalistic political science. Secondly, it considers his response to the problematic character of democracy as both a practicable and desirable form of political rule. This study begins by outlining the anti-democratic implications of both the methodological standpoint and derived findings of an early naturalist behavioral science of politics. Having defined the general context of this investigation, this work then focuses on the logic and ramifications of Lasswell's approach to the study of political behavior. Through a consideration of his application of several different analytical frameworks and perspectives, this study shows that his research culminated in a set of findings which debunked many of the fundamental tenets underlying democratic liberalism. This work then discusses how Lasswell addressed the problematic character of democracy as a desirable and practicable form of political rule. First, it shows that underlying his commitment to a democratic social order was the conviction that such a polity was most suited to the development of a psychologically sound and healthy human society. Secondly, it considers the specific palliative that he prescribed for the ills of 'democratic statecraft.' This study concludes by highlighting the potentially anti-democratic and anti-liberal implications of Lasswell's call to constrain a politics of irrationalism by subjecting it to a set of rationalist principles derived through a form of democratic technology.