David Beetham (1938 – 5 July 2022) was a social theorist who made extensive contributions in the fields of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

and

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

(including in his approach to the role of not only social but also economic rights) who was Professor of Politics at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

Early life and education

Beetham was born in

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of Bi ...

in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

and grew up in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

, then in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. He was the second of three sons of Tom Beetham, a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister, and his wife Elain (nee Wade). He attended

Kingswood School (''In The Right Way Quickly'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent , religious_affiliation = Methodist , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and gained a scholarship to study at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

. Beetham read Greats at Merton. After a short period preparing to be a

minister, he turned to the social sciences, gaining a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

. He stood for the Labour Party in the 1970 General Election.

Academic career

Beetham became a

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

in the Philosophy Department at

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, before transferring to the Department of Government where he became a

Senior Lecturer Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this concep ...

. In March 1980 he was appointed

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of Politics and Head of the Department of Politics at the

in succession to

Ralph Miliband Ralph Miliband (born Adolphe Miliband; 7 January 1924 – 21 May 1994) was a British sociologist. He has been described as "one of the best known academic Marxists of his generation", in this manner being compared with E. P. Thompson, Eric Ho ...

. He retired from Leeds as

Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

Professor in December 2001 following a period of ill-health. He was a consultant on democracy to the Council of Europe, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. His study ''Introducing Democracy, 80 Questions and Answers'' (jointly authored with Professor Kevin Boyle of the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...

) was commissioned by UNESCO and published world-wide in many languages. Closer to home, he joined Democratic Audit at the University of Essex in 1992 where he became associate editor, working closely with Director

Stuart Weir Stuart Weir (born 1938) is a British journalist, writer, and Visiting Professor with the Government Department at the University of Essex. He was previously the Director of the Democratic Audit, formerly a research unit of the University of Esse ...

. Beetham devised a methodology for assessing democracy which was pioneered by the Democratic Audit in the UK and was developed for wider use across the world. Beetham also sat on the editorial board of the academic journal ''

Representation Representation may refer to: Law and politics *Representation (politics), political activities undertaken by elected representatives, as well as other theories ** Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a ...

''.

The Democratic Audit of the United Kingdom

Beetham was a major contributor as Associate Director of the UK Democratic Audit, based at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. He directed a programme on democracy and human rights for the

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) is an intergovernmental organization that works to support and strengthen democratic institutions and processes around the world, to develop sustainable, eff ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. Beetham described the democratic audit as 'the simple but ambitious project of assessing the state of democracy in a single country'. It has been applied to assess the extent, and limits, of democracy in the United Kingdom. His contributions to the democratic audit and assessment of democracy led to his appointment as an active consultant on a programme of eight national audits for IDEA (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assessment), Stockholm, which led to some two dozen such audits around the world. Beetham was established as a leading authority on

Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas profo ...

by the publication in 1974 of his book ''Max Weber and the Theory of Modern Politics''. He also pioneered élite theory, drawing attention to the writings of

Robert Michels Robert Michels (; 9 January 1876 – 3 May 1936) was a German-born Italian sociologist who contributed to elite theory by describing the political behavior of intellectual elites. He belonged to the Italian school of elitism. He is best know ...

. He also made substantial contributions in Marxist theories and analyses of fascism, and produced the famous The Legitimation of Power.

Marriage and children

Beetham married Margaret Newbigin, whom he met at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, in 1963. They had two daughters.

Death

Beetham died on 5 July 2022.

Key works

David Beetham (1974) Max Weber and the Theory of Modern Politics

This work examines Weber's discussions of the prospects for liberal Parliamentarism in authoritarian societies. This is within an age defined by both mass politics and bureaucratic organization. Beetham argued that Weber's analysis of the class basis of politics means that we should modify some of the more standard interpretations of Weber's sociology of modern capitalism. The book also includes Weber's discussion of

Wilhelmine The Wilhelmine Period () comprises the period of German history between 1890 and 1918, embracing the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II in the German Empire from the resignation of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck until the end of World War I and Wilhelm' ...

Germany and the 1905 and 1917 Russian revolutions.

David Beetham (1991) The Legitimation of Power

This work explored the legitimation of power not only as an issue in political and social theory but also with regards to the legitimacy of contemporary political systems.Grœger, N., (1993). Review of The Legitimation of Power. Issues in Political Theory. ''Journal of Peace Research'', 30, 2, 227.

References

External links

Democratic Audit UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beetham, David 1938 births 2022 deaths People educated at Kingswood School, Bath Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Manchester Academics of the University of Manchester Academics of the University of Leeds English political scientists Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates