Juan José Linz Facts for Kids

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal family name is Linz and the second or maternal family name is Storch de Gracia.

Juan José Linz Storch de Gracia (born December 24, 1926 – died October 1, 2013) was a Spanish sociologist and political scientist. He studied how different countries are governed. He was a special professor at Yale University and was known for his ideas about authoritarian governments and how countries become more democratic.

A Look at His Life
Awards and Special Recognitions
His Important Research
Selected Publications
See also

A Look at His Life

Juan José Linz was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1926. When he was six years old, in 1932, he moved to Spain with his mother. He studied law and political science at the Complutense University of Madrid, finishing in 1947.

In 1950, he moved to New York and earned a special degree in sociology from Columbia University in 1959. He learned from many famous sociologists there.

Linz became a professor at Columbia University in 1961. Later, in 1969, he joined Yale University as a professor, where he taught for the rest of his life. He helped start important groups like the Committee of Political Sociology and led other international research organizations.

He was a very important teacher and guided 65 students through their advanced studies. Juan José Linz passed away in New Haven, Connecticut, in 2013, at the age of 86.

Awards and Special Recognitions

Juan José Linz received many important awards for his work. These include:

The Prince of Asturias Award of Social Sciences (1987)
The Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science (1996)
The Karl Deutsch Award (2003)

Several awards are also named after him, honoring his lasting impact on the study of politics. These include the Juan Linz Prize from the International Political Science Association (IPSA).

His Important Research

Juan José Linz spent his career studying different types of governments. He was especially interested in why democracy sometimes fails and how countries can become democratic again. He wrote many books and articles on these topics. People often called him "one of the best political sociologists in the world" because he knew so much.

Understanding Authoritarian Governments

One of Linz's early and very important ideas came from studying Spain under General Francisco Franco. He described Spain's government as an "authoritarian regime." Before this, governments were usually just called either democratic or totalitarian. Linz showed there was another type.

He explained that authoritarian governments have four main features:

Limited Choices: People have few political choices. The government controls lawmakers, political groups, and other organizations.
Emotional Support: The government tries to get support by appealing to feelings, saying it's needed to fix big problems like poverty or unrest.
Little Public Action: People are not encouraged to get involved in politics, and any actions against the government are stopped.
Vague Leadership: The leader's power is often unclear and can change, which gives them a lot of control.

Totalitarian and Authoritarian Systems

In his famous book, Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes, Linz explained the differences between these two types of governments in great detail. This book helped many other researchers understand and study authoritarianism. He also discussed "sultanistic regimes," which are a type of authoritarian rule where power is very personal and often based on fear.

Why Democracies Sometimes Fail

Linz also studied why democratic governments sometimes break down. In his work The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes, he looked at how leaders within a democracy, not just those against it, can play a big part in its downfall. He believed that these breakdowns were not always meant to happen, but were often due to specific choices and events. His ideas challenged earlier theories that focused mainly on economic reasons or opposition groups.

How Countries Become Democratic

With his colleague Alfred Stepan, Linz wrote Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation. This book compared how 13 countries in Europe and South America became democratic. They looked at how the type of old non-democratic government affected the path to democracy. Their work helped people understand that different authoritarian governments can lead to different ways of becoming democratic.

Selected Publications

"An Authoritarian Regime: Spain," in Erik Allardt and Yrjö Littunen (eds.), Cleavages, Ideologies and Party System. Contributions to Comparative Political Sociology. Helsinki: Westermarck Society, 1964.
"Totalitarianism and Authoritarian Regimes," in Fred Greenstein and Nelson Polsby (eds.), Handbook of Political Science Vol. 3, Macropolitical Theory. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Press, 1975.
The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes. Crisis, Breakdown, and Reequilibriation. Baltimore, Md.: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978.
"The Perils of Presidentialism. " Journal of Democracy 1(1)(1990): 51-69.
Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America and Post-Communist Europe, with Alfred Stepan. Baltimore, Md.: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.
Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes. Boulder, Col: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2000.

Juan José Linz facts for kids

Contents