Charles Edward Merriam

Charles Edward Merriam, Jr. (November 15, 1874 - January 8, 1953) was a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, founder of the behavioral approach to political science, a trainer of many graduate students, a prominent intellectual in the Progressive Movement, and an advisor to several U.S. Presidents. Upon his death, The New York Times called him "one of the outstanding political scientists in the country." Charles Merriam was born in Hopkinton, Iowa, on November 15, 1874, ...See more

Charles Edward Merriam, Jr. (November 15, 1874 - January 8, 1953) was a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, founder of the behavioral approach to political science, a trainer of many graduate students, a prominent intellectual in the Progressive Movement, and an advisor to several U.S. Presidents. Upon his death, The New York Times called him "one of the outstanding political scientists in the country." Charles Merriam was born in Hopkinton, Iowa, on November 15, 1874, [1][2][3][4] to Charles Edward Merriam and Margaret Campbell Kirkwood Merriam.[1] The Merriams traced their lineage to Scottish immigrants who settled in Massachusetts in 1638.[5] The father moved to Iowa in 1855, and served with the 12th Iowa Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War. Charles and Margaret (both Presbyterians) were married in 1868.[6] Charles E. Merriam, Sr. owned a dry goods store and was postmaster and president of the school board in Hopkinton.[7] Charles Jr.'s elder brother was John C. Merriam (who became a noted paleontologist), and he had a younger sister, Susan Agnes Merriam.[8] Merriam attended public school in Hopkinton.[9] He graduated from Lenox College in 1893 (his father was a trustee of the school), [1][10] taught school for a year, [10] and then returned to college to receive his Bachelor of Laws from the University of Iowa in 1895.[1] He received his masters degree in 1897 and PhD in 1900 from Columbia University.[2] He studied in Paris and Berlin in 1899 while completing his Ph.D. Among his mentors from whom he adopted much of his early political thought were Frank Johnson Goodnow, Otto von Gierke, and James Harvey Robinson.[11] He married Elizabeth Hilda Doyle (of Constable, New York) in 1900. Merriam joined the faculty at the University of Chicago in 1900 as the first member of the political science faculty.[4] He authored A History of American Political Theories in 1903, a notable analysis of American political movements which strongly supported the emerging Progressive movement.[4] He moved up quickly in the department, reached the rank of full Professor in 1911, and served as chairman of the department of political science from 1911 until his retirement. From 1907 to 1911, he served as chairman of the College of Commerce and Administration (the precursor to the Booth School of Business).[13] Merriam significantly influenced the discipline of political science in the United State during his years in academia. As two political scientists noted in their study of the discipline in 1985, "Merriam's hand can be seen in virtually every facet of modern political science."[14] "As much as any single scholar during this period, Merriam set the standard for how American democracy should be studied within the academy" was the assessment of Merriam's thinking on the discipline by another political scientist in 2008.[15] Noted political scientist Gabriel Almond concluded, "The Chicago school is generally acknowledged to have been the founding influence in the history of modern political science, and Charles E. Merriam is generally recognized as the founder and shaper of the Chicago school."[16] Merriam was a leading advocate of the use of data and quantitative analysis in the practice of political science[17] (even though he himself had almost no training in mathematics or statistics), [18] and he founded the behavioralistic approach to political science.[19][20] Merriam "denied the utility of theory" and advocated instead a "practical" political science aimed at creating a more harmonious, democratic, and pluralistic society.[21][22] A corollary to this thinking was his "vision of social scientists as technical advisors to society's political leaders."[23] See less