Melissa Schwartzberg
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Melissa Schwartzberg (born 1975) is 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 is the Silver Professor of Politics at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...
, and is affiliated with its Department of Classics and
School of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...
. She studies
democratic theory 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 ...
,
constitutionalism Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law". Political organizations are constitutional ...
, and both ancient and recent political institutions and political thought. She has written books on the conflict between democratic theory and entrenched laws, and on the tradeoff between supermajoritarian and
majoritarian Majoritarianism is a traditional political philosophy or agenda that asserts that a majority (sometimes categorized by religion, language, social class, or some other identifying factor) of the population is entitled to a certain degree of primac ...
rulesets.


Education and early work

Schwartzberg attended
Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
, graduating in 1996 with a BA in political science and
classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
. She then studied politics at New York University, earning a PhD in 2002. In 2002, Schwartzberg became a professor at
The George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...
. In 2006 she moved to
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where she remained until 2013, when she joined the faculty at New York University.


Career

Schwartzberg's first book was ''Democracy and Legal Change'', published in 2007. She studies the question of entrenched laws which are difficult or impossible to amend. Schwartzberg argues that amending even fundamental laws is a central democratic activity, and that laws which cannot be changed by a democratic majority or by supramajoritarian amendment procedures are damaging to democracy. In addition to motivating this view abstractly, Schwartzberg discusses specific cases in which damage was done by laws because those laws were not changeable, including the
sunset provision In public policy, a sunset provision or sunset clause is a measure within a statute, regulation or other law that provides that the law shall cease to have effect after a specific date, unless further legislative action is taken to extend the law ...
of
Article Five of the United States Constitution Article Five of the United States Constitution describes the process for altering the Constitution. Under Article Five, the process to alter the Constitution consists of proposing an amendment or amendments, and subsequent ratification. Amendment ...
that protected the clause in Article 1 which guaranteed that congress could not restrict the importation of slaves. Schwartzberg's view of laws as a living project aligns with the views of
Jürgen Habermas Jürgen Habermas (, ; ; born 18 June 1929) is a German social theorist in the tradition of critical theory and pragmatism. His work addresses communicative rationality and the public sphere. Associated with the Frankfurt School, Habermas's wor ...
. In 2014, Schwarzberg published ''Counting the Many: The Origins and Limits of Supermajority Rule''. In this book she continues to consider the nature and values of majoritarian decision-making rules, examining the idea that supermajoritarian decision rules are a safeguard against the dangers of democracy. She provides both a history of the use of supermajority rule and a normative discussion of its value, noting that supermajoritarian rules are in an indeterminate region between majoritarian rules and unanimous rules. She studies the failure of several major recent referendums to meet a supermajoritarian threshold despite passing a majority threshold, such as the
Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. Proponents assert it would end legal distinctions between men and ...
and the election reform proposals of the
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, while also situating these events in a pattern which dates to Ancient Greece. Schwartzberg argues that supermajority rule, though it attempts to compensate for the problems with majority rule, introduces additional liabilities and biases. ''Counting the Many'' received the 2016 David and Elaine Spitz Prize from the International Conference for the Study of Political Thought, which is awarded for the best book in liberal and/or democratic theory published each year. In 2018, Schwartzberg was named Julius Silver, Roslyn S. Silver, and Enid Silver Winslow Professor of Politics at New York University. In 2020, Schwartzberg was awarded the
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 ar ...
, which is awarded each year to "175 scholars, artists, and writers" based on "prior achievement and exceptional promise". Schwartzberg's work has been reviewed, or she has been interviewed or quoted, in media outlets such as ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...
'', ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', and ''
Bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. ...
''.


Selected works

*''Democracy and Legal Change'' (2007) *''Counting the Many: The Origins and Limits of Supermajority Rule'' (2014) *"Epistemic Democracy and Its Challenges", ''Annual Review of Political Science'' (2015)


Selected awards

*Spitz Prize (2016) *Guggenheim Fellow (2020)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwartzberg, Melissa 1975 births American women social scientists American women political scientists American political scientists 21st-century American women writers Living people Washington University in St. Louis alumni New York University alumni George Washington University faculty Columbia University faculty New York University faculty