David Beetham


David Beetham is a social theorist who has made extensive contributions in the fields of democracy and human rights; including in his approach to the role of not only social but also economic rights.

Career

Beetham worked at the University of Manchester until April 1980 when he left to take up the Professorship of Politics at the University of Leeds.
He has been on consultant on democracy to the Council of Europe, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UNESCO. His study Introducing Democracy, 80 Questions and Answers 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. 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 sits on the editorial board of the academic journal Representation.

The Democratic Audit of the United Kingdom

He was a major contributor as Associate Director of the UK Democratic Audit, which is now based at the London School of Economics. He directed a programme on democracy and human rights for the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, Stockholm. Beetham describes 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, Stockholm, which led to some two dozen such audits around the world.
Beetham was established as a leading authority on Max Weber 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. He also made substantial contributions in Marxist theories and analyses of fascism, and produced the famous The Legitimation of Power.
He is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Leeds.

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 argues 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 Germany and the 1905 and 1917 Russian revolutions.

David Beetham (1991) The Legitimation of Power

This work explores 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.