Richard Franklin Bensel (born 1949) is a professor of

American politics The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that Separation of powers, share powers. These are: the United States Congress, U.S. Congre ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. Bensel has attempted to bridge the gap between American

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

and

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

history, with an eye toward comparative implications. Bensel is best known as a scholar of

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

. His most recent work, ''Passions and Preferences: William Jennings Bryan and the 1896 Democratic National Convention'' (

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, 2008), attempts to bring American political development into a conversation with

rational choice theory Rational choice theory refers to a set of guidelines that help understand economic and social behaviour. The theory originated in the eighteenth century and can be traced back to political economist and philosopher, Adam Smith. The theory postula ...

American political development

Along with

Stephen Skowronek Stephen Skowronek (born 1951) is an American political scientist, noted for his research on American national institutions and the U.S. presidency, and for helping to stimulate the study of American political development. Early life and educat ...

Theda Skocpol Theda Skocpol (born May 4, 1947) is an American sociologist and political scientist, who is currently the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University. She is a highly influential figure in both sociology and poli ...

and others, Bensel is among the founders of the academic study of

American political development American political development (often abbreviated as APD) is a subfield of political science that studies the historical development of politics in the United States. In American political science departments, it is considered a subfield within Am ...

(APD), a sub-specialty within the discipline of

political science 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 ...

. Beginning during the 1970s and 80s as an attempt to "bring the state back in" to the study of American Politics, APD soon emerged as a competitor to the prevailing

rational choice Rational choice theory refers to a set of guidelines that help understand economic and social behaviour. The theory originated in the eighteenth century and can be traced back to political economist and philosopher, Adam Smith. The theory postula ...

and

survey research In research of human subjects, a survey is a list of questions aimed for extracting specific data from a particular group of people. Surveys may be conducted by phone, mail, via the internet, and also at street corners or in malls. Surveys are us ...

modes of studying American politics. In an important 2003 exchange published in

Studies in American Political Development Studies in American Political Development (SAPD) is a political science journal founded in 1986 and presently published by Cambridge University Press. It is the flagship journal of the American political development (APD) subfield in political sc ...

, John Gerring, Stephen Skowronek,

Rogers Smith Rogers M. Smith (born September 20, 1953) is an American political scientist and author noted for his research and writing on American constitutional and political development and political thought, with a focus on issues of citizenship and rac ...

, and Bensel offered their thoughts on the state of APD as a subfield. Bensel controversially defined APD as "an insurgency." Its goal, he argued, "should be to destroy disciplinary boundaries, to sabotage reifying conventions, to identify and support intellectual rebellions wherever they appear, and to do our best to make sense of whatever space we may have cleared and claimed for ourselves."Bensel, "The Tension Between American Political Development as a Research Community and as a Disciplinary Subfield," ''Studies in American Political Development'' Spring 2003.

Books

* ''Sectionalism and American Political Development'' (1984) * ''Yankee Leviathan: The Origins of Central State Authority in America, 1859–1877 (1991)'' * ''The Political Economy of American Industrialization'' (2000) * ''The American Ballot Box in the Mid-Nineteenth Century'' (2004) * ''Passions and Preferences: William Jennings Bryan and the 1896 Democratic National Convention'' (2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bensel, Richard 1949 births Living people Cornell University faculty American political scientists