Louise Overacker (November 18, 1891—April 26, 1982) was an American
political scientist
Political science is the science, scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of politics, political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated c ...
. She specialized in the study of money in politics,
United States presidential primaries
The presidential primary elections and caucuses held in the various states, the District of Columbia, and territories of the United States form part of the nominating process of candidates for United States presidential elections. The United S ...
, and comparative
party system
A party system is a concept in comparative political science concerning the system of government by political parties in a democratic country. The idea is that political parties have basic similarities: they control the government, have a stabl ...
s, particularly those of Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. She was one of the first professors to teach government at
Wellesley College
Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...
, where she was a faculty member from 1925 until 1957, and helped to establish the Wellesley Department of Political Science in 1940.
Education and early work
Overacker was born in Centreville (now
Fremont), in the
East Bay
The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa countie ...
area around
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
Her father owned a fruit growing business, but he later became a rancher, and the family moved to
St. Helena, California
St. Helena ( ; Wappo: ''Anakotanoma'') is a city in Napa County, in the Wine Country of California. Located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the population was 5,814 at the 2010 census.
St. Helena is a popular tourist d ...
, where Overacker attended high school.
[ In 1911, she was admitted to ]Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
, which had opened the same year she was born.[ However, the school had limited women's attendance to only 500 at a time, and Overacker arrived in her first semester to discover that they had exceeded the cap and she was forced to return home.][ Enough women had dropped out by the start of the second semester that Overacker was able to attend, and she graduated successfully in 1915.][ She earned a BA in economics, with honors from ]Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
.[
Overacker continued to study at Stanford with the political scientist Victor J. West, and she earned an MA in 1917 with a thesis entitled ''The Police Department of San Francisco''.][ During ]WWI
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Overacker worked as a clerk in the Bureau of War Risk Insurance within the United States Bureau of Efficiency.[ After the end of the war, she traveled around Europe with the ]YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
to assist with administration there, before returning to Stanford in 1919. In 1920, she was offered a position as an instructor at Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...
, which then had only one other political science instructor.[ Two years later she moved to the ]University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
to obtain a PhD. There she studied with Charles Edward Merriam
Charles Edward Merriam Jr. (1874–1953) was an American professor of political science at the University of Chicago, founder of the behavioralism, behavioral approach to political science, a trainer of many graduate students, a prominent intellec ...
, and graduated in 1924. Her thesis focused on the study of American presidential primaries.[ According to Victoria Schuck, Overacker was one of only 19 women to complete a PhD in political science during the 1920s, out of about 200 political science degrees awarded during that period.][
]
Career
Overacker was offered a faculty position by the head of the political science department at the University of Indiana
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universit ...
, but the position was vetoed by the university because the only available office would have to be shared with a man.[ Instead she obtained a position at Wilson College in ]Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
where she was an instructor in both government and economics for a year.[ In 1925 she moved to ]Wellesley College
Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...
where she became an assistant professor in the History Department.[
Overacker was one of the first professors to teach political science at Wellesley, 15 years before a dedicated political science department was established there.] Wellesley College has credited Overacker with playing a leading role in introducing a serious concentration on political science into the Wellesley history department, as well as in the subsequent founding of the political science department in 1940.[ Overacker helped to give the new political science department an early focus on practical topics like ]bureaucracy
The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...
and government administration
The term administration, as used in the context of government, differs according to the jurisdiction under which it operates. In general terms, administration can be described as a decision making body.
United States
In American usage, the term ...
, in response to the academic disruptions caused by WWII
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.[
Together with her former PhD supervisor Charles Merriam, Overacker published the 1928 update and revision of Merriam's 1926 book on ''Primary Elections''. When her former undergraduate advisor Victor J. West died in 1927, Overacker was invited to compile his lectures and notes into a book, which she published under the title ''Money in Elections'' in 1932. In 1945, Overacker was invited by ]Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
to deliver the Gaspar G. Bacon
Gaspar Griswold Bacon, Sr. (March 7, 1886 – December 25, 1947) served on the board of overseers of Harvard University, as the President of the Massachusetts Senate from 1929 to 1932 and as the 51st Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, lieutena ...
lecture series; Victoria Schuck wrote that it was rare for a woman to be invited to deliver a named lecture series at that time.[ She chose to deliver lectures on the topic of campaign finance in America, and her lectures were compiled and published in the 1946 book ''Presidential Campaign Funds''.][ Overacker also studied how the ]Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
affected the sources and quantities of funding for presidential campaigns, as well as research on the political activities of labor unions as campaign funding sources. Because of Overacker's early work on the topic of campaign finance
Campaign finance, also known as election finance or political donations, refers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political ac ...
, she was chosen by the Citizen's Research Foundation as one of the namesakes for their Overacker-Heard Campaign Finance Data Archive, later maintained by the Institute of Governmental Studies The Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) is an interdisciplinary organized research unit at UC Berkeley, located in Moses Hall. It was founded in 1919 as the Bureau of Public Administration. IGS and its affiliated centers spearhead and promote r ...
at 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 1951, Overacker was awarded the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship
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 art ...
.
In 1952, Overacker published ''The Australian party system''. The book aimed to increase American interest in the party politics of Australia, specifically the relationship between the Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...
, the parties of the center-right, and the Communist Party of Australia
The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian political party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been i ...
. As a scholar of the American presidential primary system, Overacker was particularly interested in the pre-selection process in Australian presidential politics, which she viewed as the closest foreign analogue to American presidential primary elections.[ ''The Australian party system'' was one of the first investigations of Australian politics available to American political scientists, even though Australia had several distinctive features such as the combination of a Westminster system with an American-style single constitutional document, together with ]compulsory voting
Compulsory voting, also called mandatory voting, is the requirement in some countries that eligible citizens register and vote in elections. Penalties might be imposed on those who fail to do so without a valid reason. According to the CIA World F ...
.
Overacker retired from Wellesley in 1957, 32 years after her first appointment there.[ After her retirement, she held several temporary academic positions. She was the ]John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney (August 17, 1904 – February 8, 1982) was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the ''New York Herald Tribune'', and president of the Museum of Modern Art. He was a member of the Whitney family.
Early life
Whit ...
Visiting Professor at Bethany College in West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
during the 1957–1958 school year, a visiting scholar for Phi Beta Kappa from 1958 to 1960, and a substitute professor during 1960–1961 at the University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
when a professor there was named chancellor of The University of California at Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge of ...
and had to leave to lay out the new Santa Cruz campus.[ In 1963, Overacker taught at the Inter-American University in ]Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
.[
Before Overacker's death in 1982, the ]American Political Science Association
The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, ...
had been preparing a special symposium in her honor.[ Overacker's influence on the early development on the discipline of political science has been noted political scientists, journalists, and university presidents like Victoria Schuck, ]Elizabeth Drew
Elizabeth Drew (born November 16, 1935) is an American political journalist and author.
Early life
Elizabeth Brenner was born on November 16, 1935, in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is the daughter of William J. Brenner, a furniture manufacturer, and Es ...
, and Nannerl O. Keohane
Nannerl "Nan" Overholser Keohane (born September 18, 1940, in Blytheville, Arkansas) She is now a professor in social sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, where she is researching the theory and practice of leadership in democ ...
.[ In citing her work, ]Robert Caro
Robert Allan Caro (born October 30, 1935) is an American journalist and author known for his biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson.
After working for many years as a reporter, Caro wrote ''The Power Br ...
referred to Overacker as her "era's leading academic expert on campaign finance".
Selected works
*''Primary Elections'', 2nd edition, with Charles Merriam (1928)
*''Money in Elections'', expanded from notes by Victor J. West (1932)
*''Presidential Campaign Funds'' (1946)
*''The Australian party system'' (1952)
Selected awards
*John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, 1951[
*Namesake, Overacker-Heard Campaign Finance Data Archive][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Overacker, Louise
American women social scientists
American women political scientists
American political scientists
20th-century American women writers
1891 births
1982 deaths
Stanford University alumni
University of Chicago alumni
Wellesley College faculty
University of California, Los Angeles faculty
American women academics
20th-century political scientists