J. Austin Ranney (September 23, 1920 – July 24, 2006)
was an American
political scientist
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
and expert on
political parties in the United States.
Ranney earned his bachelor's degree at
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
, his master's degree at the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
, and his Ph.D. at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
. He taught for many years at the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
and the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
, before coming to the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
in 1986, where he stayed through the remainder of his career.
According to political journalist
Theodore H. White, it was Ranney who, in a Nov. 18, 1969, hearing designed to reform the delegate selection process of the Democratic Party, "set... in motion" the idea of quota set-asides, though Ranney "consistently ever since...has expressed his abhorrence of quotas." White attributes the quota system eventually adopted by the
McGovern–Fraser Commission
The McGovern–Fraser Commission, formally known as Commission on Party Structure and Delegate Selection,Kamarck, Elaine C. (2009). Primary Politics: How Presidential Candidates Have Shaped the Modern Nominating System'. Washington, DC: Brookings I ...
as "one of the major factors in the wrecking" of the campaign of George McGovern as the 1972 Democratic presidential candidate and the
landslide re-election of Richard Nixon.
[White, Theodore H. The Making of the President 1972. New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1973, pp 29-30, 33.]
He served as president of the
American Political Science Association in 1974–1975, and also served as managing editor of the ''
American Political Science Review
The ''American Political Science Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all areas of political science. It is an official journal of the American Political Science Association and is published on their behalf by Cambri ...
.'' He was a
Guggenheim fellow
Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the a ...
(
in 1974), and a scholar at the
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. A ...
(
1976–1985). He was politically a Democrat.
Ranney was a longtime affiliate of political science honors society
Pi Sigma Alpha
Pi Sigma Alpha ( or PSA), the National Political Science Honor Society, is the only honor society for college and university students of political and social sciences in the United States. Its purpose is to recognize and promote high academic ...
. He was president of the society from 1976 to 1978, and also served on the executive council for the ten years prior. He was inducted into Pi Sigma Alpha as a college student.
He created the
Ranney Index
The Ranney Index is a way to measure a state's competition between the two major political parties in the United States, created by Austin Ranney J. Austin Ranney (September 23, 1920 – July 24, 2006) was an American political scientist and exper ...
, and is also noted for his work on
preselection
Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...
in British parliamentary elections (1965).
His influences included
Elmer Eric Schattschneider and
Angus Campbell, while his Ph.D. students include
Douglas W. Rae.
Works
* Austin Ranney, ''Pathways to Parliament. Candidate Selection in Britain,'' Macmillan, London, 1965.
References
External links
*
American political scientists
Northwestern University alumni
University of Oregon alumni
Yale University alumni
University of Illinois faculty
University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty
University of California faculty
1920 births
2006 deaths
Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy
20th-century political scientists
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