David Beetham

Beetham was born in Keighley in the West Riding of Yorkshire and grew up in Birkenhead, then in Cheshire. He was the second of three sons of Tom Beetham, a Methodist minister, and his wife Elain (nee Wade). He attended Kingswood School in Bath and gained a scholarship to study at Merton College, Oxford.[https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/aug/10/david-beetham-obituary Helen Beetham, obituary, The Guardian, published 10 August 2022]

Beetham read Greats at Merton.{{cite book|editor1-last=Levens|editor1-first=R.G.C.|title=Merton College Register 1900-1964|date=1964|publisher=Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford|page=487}} After a short period preparing to be a Methodist minister, he turned to the social sciences, gaining a PhD at the University of Manchester.[https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/politics/news/article/1585/remembering-david-beetham-an-obituary University of Leeds, School of Politics and International Studies News, Remembering David Beetham – an obituary, published 19 July 2022]

He stood for the Labour Party in the 1970 General Election.

{{Election box begin|title=General election 1970: Nantwich[http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge70/i14.htm UK General Election Results 1970]{{Cite book|title=The Times' Guide to the House of Commons|last=|first=|publisher=|year=1970|isbn=|location=|pages=}}}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Conservative Party (UK)

|candidate = Robert Grant-Ferris

|votes = 20,397

|percentage = 46.2

|change = +2.4

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Labour Party (UK)

|candidate = David Beetham

|votes = 15,124

|percentage = 34.3

|change = -4.6

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Liberal Party (UK)

|candidate = Roger Cuss

|votes = 8,595

|percentage = 19.5

|change = +1.1

}}

{{Election box majority|

|votes = 5,273

|percentage = 11.9

|change = +6.0

}}

{{Election box turnout|

|votes = 44,116

|percentage = 77.5

|change = -1.8

}}

{{Election box hold with party link|

|winner = Conservative Party (UK)

|swing =

}}

{{Election box end}}

Beetham became a lecturer in the Philosophy Department at Manchester, before transferring to the Department of Government where he became a Senior Lecturer. In March 1980 he was appointed Professor of Politics and Head of the Department of Politics at the University of Leeds in succession to Ralph Miliband. He retired from Leeds as Emeritus Professor in December 2001 following a period of ill-health.{{Cite web |url=http://www2.essex.ac.uk/human_rights_centre/people/fellows/beetham.shtm |title=David Beetham: Fellow of the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex, UK |access-date=2009-08-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709103451/http://www2.essex.ac.uk/human_rights_centre/people/fellows/beetham.shtm |archive-date=2009-07-09 |url-status=dead }}

He was a consultant on democracy to the Council of Europe, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UNESCO. His study Introducing Democracy, 80 Questions and Answers (jointly authored with Professor Kevin Boyle of the University of Essex) 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.[http://reporter.leeds.ac.uk/478/beetham.htm University of Leeds, The Reporter Issue 478, 4 March 2002 Retirements: Professor David Beetham] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090404104245/http://reporter.leeds.ac.uk/478/beetham.htm |date=4 April 2009 }} (Accessed April 2013) Beetham also sat on the editorial board of the academic journal Representation.{{cite web | title = Representation | url = http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=editorialBoard&journalCode=rrep20#.UhG4yJg7uSo | work = editorial board | publisher = Taylor & Francis | accessdate = 19 August 2013}}

Beetham was a major contributor as Associate Director of the UK Democratic Audit, based at the London School of Economics.[http://www.democraticaudit.com UK Democratic Audit] (Accessed April 2015) He directed a programme on democracy and human rights for the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, Stockholm. Beetham described 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.Beetham, David and Weir Stuart(1999) Political Power and Democratic Control in Britain 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 (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assessment), 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.

Beetham married Margaret Newbigin, whom he met at Oxford, in 1963. They had two daughters.

Beetham died on 5 July 2022.[https://forstaff.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/7796/emeritus-professor-david-beetham University of Leeds, For Staff, Emeritus Professor David Beetham, published 15 July 2022]{{cite web | url=https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/politics/news/article/1585/remembering-david-beetham-an-obituary | title=Remembering David Beetham – an obituary | date=19 July 2022 }}

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 argued 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.Roth, G. (1977). On Recent Works Concerning Max Weber:Max Weber and the Theory of Modern Politics. David Beetham; Max Weber's Theory of Concept Formation: History, Laws, and Ideal Types. Thomas Burger; Roscher and Knies: The Logical Problems of Historical Economics. Max Weber. American Journal of Sociology, 82, 6.[Review of] Max Weber and the Theory of Modern Politics. (1977). The American Political Science Review, June, 71, 2, 631-632.Scaff, L. A. (1976). [Review of] Max Weber and the Theory of Modern Politics. The Journal of Politics, 38, 1, 180-182.

This work explored 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.Barker, R.,(1993). Review of The Legitimation of Power. British Journal of Sociology, 44, 2, 361-362Grœger, N., (1993). Review of The Legitimation of Power. Issues in Political Theory. Journal of Peace Research, 30, 2, 227.

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Category:1938 births

Category:2022 deaths

Category:People educated at Kingswood School, Bath

Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford

Category:Alumni of the University of Manchester

Category:Academics of the University of Manchester

Category:Academics of the University of Leeds

Category:English political scientists

Category:Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates

Category:Max Weber scholars