Juan José Linz

Juan José Linz Storch de Gracia (24 December 1926 – 1 October 2013) was a German-born Spanish sociologist and political scientist specializing in comparative politics. From 1961 he was Sterling Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Political Science at Yale University and later also an honorary member of the Scientific Council at the Juan March Institute. He is best known for his work on authoritarian political regimes and democratization.

As a professor, Linz supervised 65 dissertations. His students include Alfred Stepan, Arturo Valenzuela, Jan T. Gross, Houchang Chehabi, and Miguel A. Centeno.

Awards and honors Linz received the Prince of Asturias Award of Social Sciences (1987), the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science (1996) and the Karl Deutsch Award (2003), in addition to honorary doctorates from several European universities.

Various awards are named after Linz:

The Juan Linz Prize of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) The Juan Linz Prize for Best Dissertation in the Comparative Study of Democracy, of the Comparative Politics Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA)

Academic research In addition to his work on systems of government, he did extensive research on the breakdowns of democracy and the transition back to a democratic regime. He is the author of many works on the subject, including Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes (1975/2000), The Perils of Presidentialism (1990), and Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe (1996, co-authored with Alfred Stepan). He has been called "one of the finest political sociologists in the world" and was "legendary for the encyclopedic breadth of his knowledge."

An Authoritarian Regime: Spain One of Linz's early works focused on General Francisco Franco's Spain and classified Spain's political regime as an "authoritarian regime." This was an important innovation because at the time regimes tended to be classified as either democratic or totalitarian.

Linz defined authoritarianism as possessing four qualities: Limited political pluralism, realized with constraints on the legislature, political parties and interest groups. Political legitimacy based upon appeals to emotion and identification of the regime as a necessary evil to combat "easily recognizable societal problems, such as underdevelopment or insurgency". Minimal political mobilization, and suppression of anti-regime activities. Ill-defined executive powers, often vague and shifting, which extends the power of the executive. This work was foundational to the literature on authoritarianism. In this work Linz also provides as 'Litmus Test', a list of actions by politicians that can put democracy at risk. The list of actions are:

A refusal to unambiguously disavow violence A readiness to curtail civil liberties The denial of legitimacy of an elected government. that includes Linz's theoretical volume The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes. Crisis, Breakdown, and Reequilibriation. Linz focused on "how the people in power in a democratic regime, not just the opponents, played a decisive role in the overthrow of democracy." Regime breakdowns were contingent, non-inevitable events. This work "challenged Marxist theories, which highlighted economic causes, as well as other approaches that focused on opposition groups to explain why democratic regimes collapse."

Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation This work on democratization, with Alfred Stepan, provides a cross-regional comparison of thirteen countries in South America, Southern Europe, and postcommunist Europe. It introduces a novel focus on stateness problems stemming from nationalist conflicts. It also argues that the type of old non-democratic regime affects subsequent trajectories of democratization. Linz's ideas about the impact of non-democratic regimes on the prospects of transitions to democracy launched a new strand in the literature on political regimes that explores the strengths and weaknesses of different types of authoritarian regimes.

Selected publications

Republished as Four volumes.

Two volumes.

Resources on Juan Linz and his research Chehabi, H.E. (ed.), Juan J. Linz: Scholar, Teacher, Friend. Cambridge, MA: Ty Aur Press, 2014. Darviche, Mohammad-Saïd, and William Genieys (eds.), Multinational State Building. Considering and Continuing the Work of Juan Linz. Montpellier: PÔLE SUD, 2008. Linz, Juan J., "Between Nations and Disciplines: Personal Experience and Intellectual Understanding of Societies and Political Regimes," pp. 101-14, in Hans Daalder (ed.), Comparative European Politics. The Story of a Profession. New York: Casell/Pinter, 1997. Linz, Juan J., "Totalitarianism and Authoritarianism: My Recollections on the Development of Comparative Politics," pp. 141-57, in Alfons Söllner et al, Totalitarismus. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1997. Linz, Juan J., Juan J. Linz. Obras Escogidas, eds. José Ramón Montero and Thomas Jeffrey Miley. Madrid: CEPC, 2008-2013. 7 Vols. [The collected works of Linz, in Spanish.] Volumen 1. Fascismo: Perspectivas históricas y comparadas. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, 2008. Volumen 2. Nacion, Estado y lengua. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, 2008. Volumen 3. Regímenes totalitarios y autoritarios. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, 2009. Volumen 4. Democracias: quiebras, transiciones y retos. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, 2009. Volumen 5. Economía y empresarios en España. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, 2013. Volumen 6. Partidos y élites políticas en España. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, 2013. Volumen 7. Historia y sociedad en España. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, 2013. Mainwaring, Scott, "Juan Linz and the Study of Latin American Politics," pp. 1-26, in Scott Mainwaring and Arturo Valenzuel (eds.), Politics, Society, and Democracy: Latin America. Boulder: Westview Press, 1998. Marcet, Joan, and José Ramón Montero (eds.), Roads to democracy: A tribute to Juan J. Linz. Barcelona, Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials, 2007. Munck, Gerardo L. and Richard Snyder, "Juan J. Linz: Political Regimes and the Quest for Knowledge," pp. 150-209, in Gerardo L. Munck and Richard Snyder, Passion, Craft, and Method in Comparative Politics. Baltimore, Md.: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007. [Interview with Juan Linz] Snyder, Richard, "Juan J. Linz: Regímenes Políticos, Democracia y la Búsqueda del Conocimiento," p. 549-603, in José Ramón Montero and Thomas Jeffrey Miley (eds.), Juan J. Linz: Obras Escogidas, Vol. 7, Historia y sociedad en España. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, 2013. Snyder, Richard, "Retour sur les travaux de Juan Linz et leur reception. Extrait de l'entretien avec Juan J. Linz," Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée (France) 13(1)(2006): 129-41.