Abstract
Contrary to apparent differences in timing and style between Harold D. Lasswell’s political psychology and the policy sciences approach that he pioneered, the continuity and compatibility between the two are very high. The appropriateness of Lasswell’s political psychology framework for addressing the intellectual tasks of the policy sciences is demonstrated by linking the insights of his political psychology to the policy sciences framework, and reviewing the common pragmatist philosophy underlying both his political psychology and the policy sciences.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ascher, W. and B. Hirschfelder-Ascher (2004). Revitalizing Political Psychology: The Legacy of Harold D. Lasswell.Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Becker, G. (1976). The Economic Approach to Human Behavior. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Bentley, A. (1908). The Process of Government. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Bryder, T. (1998). The Human Face of Politics. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Political Studies Press.
Durning, D. (2001). 'Lasswell's unseasonable gift: Symbols, psychologically complex human beings, and policy analysis,'ms., International Center for Democratic Governance, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.
Elster, J. (ed.) (1986). Rational Choice. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Freud, S. (1921/1959). Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego. Translated and ed. by James Strachey. NewYork: Norton.
Greenstein, F. (1968). 'Harold D. Lasswell's concept of democratic character,' The Journal of Politics 30: 696–709.
Herring, E. Pendleton (1929). Group Representation before Congress.Washington, DC: Brookings.
Karl, B. (1974). Charles E.Merriam and the Study of Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lasswell, H.D. (1927/1971). Propaganda Technique in theWorld War. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, and Trubner.
Lasswell, H.D. (1930/1960). Psychopathology and Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lasswell, H.D. (1931). 'Review of civilization and its discontents,'American Journal of Sociology 37: 328–331.
Lasswell, H.D. (1932). 'The triple-appeal principle: A contribution of psychoanalysis to political and social science,'American Journal of Sociology 37: 523–538.
Lasswell, H.D. (1933/1948). 'The psychology of Hitlerism,' reprinted in The Analysis of Political Behavior. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Lasswell, H.D. (1935/1965).World Politics and Personal Insecurity. NewYork: Free Press.
Lasswell, H.D. (1936). 'Certain prognostic changes during trial (psychoanalytic) interviews,' Psychoanalytic Review 23: 241–247.
Lasswell, H.D. (1938). 'A provisional classification of symbol data,' Psychiatry 1: 197–2.
Lasswell, H.D. (1941). 'The Garrison State,'American Journal of Sociology 46: 455–468.
Lasswell, H.D. (1948a). Power and Personality. NewYork: Norton.
Lasswell, H.D. (1948b). 'The structure and function of communication in society,' in Lyman Bryson, ed.,The Communication of Ideas. NewYork: Harper and Row.
Lasswell, H.D. (1951). 'Democratic character,' in The Political Writings of Harold D. Lasswell. Glencoe, IL: Free Press, pp. 465–525.
Lasswell, H.D. (1965a). 'The climate of international action,' in H.C. Kelman, ed.,International Behavior. NewYork: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Lasswell, H.D. (1965b). 'Political systems, styles and personalities,' in L. J. Edinger, ed.,Political Leadership in Industrialized Societies: Studies in Comparative Analysis. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Lasswell, H.D. (1966). 'Conflict and leadership: The process of decision and the nature of authority,' in A. de Rueck and J. Knight, eds.,Conflict in Society. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, pp. 210–228.
Lasswell, H.D. (1968). 'The impact of crowd psychology upon international law,'William andMary Law Review 9: 664–681.
Lasswell, H.D. (1971a). 'From fragmentation to configuration,' Policy Sciences 2: 449–456.
Lasswell, H.D. (1971b). Pre-View of the Policy Sciences. NewYork. American Elsevier.
Lasswell, H.D. and D. Blumenstock (1939). World Revolutionary Propaganda: A Chicago Study. NewYork: A.A. Knopf.
Lasswell, H.D. and A. Kaplan (1950). Power and Society. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Lasswell, H.D., N. Leites and Associates (1949). The Language of Politics: Studies in Quantitative Semantics. NewYork: George Stewart Publisher.
Lasswell, H.D., D. Lerner and H. Speier (eds.) (1979-1980). Propaganda and Communication in World History (Vols. 1–3. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii.
Lasswell, H.D. and M. S. McDougal (1992). Jurisprudence for a Free Society: Studies in Law, Science and Policy. New Haven and Dordrecht: New Haven Press and Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Lasswell, H.D., B. L. Smith and R.D. Casey (1935). Propaganda and Promotional Activities: An Annotated Bibliography. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Maslow, A. (1954/1970). Motivation and Personality. NewYork: Harper.
McGuire, W. (1993). 'The poly-psy relationship: Three phases of a long affair,' in S. Iyengar and W. McGuire, eds.,Explorations in Political Psychology.Durham: Duke University Press, pp. 9–35.
Odegard, P. H. (1928). Pressure Politics,The Story of the Anti-Saloon League. New York: Columbia University Press.
Robinson, D.N. (1993). 'Is there a Jamesian tradition?'American Psychologist 48: 638–643.
Rogow, A. (ed.) (1969) Politics, Personality and Social Science in the Twentieth Century: Essays in Honor of H.D. Lasswell. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Rorty, R. (1982). Consequences of Pragmatism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Ryan, F.X. (1997a). 'The ''extreme heresy'' of John Dewey and Arthur F. Bentley I: A star crossed collaboration?' Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 3: 774–794.
Ryan, F.X. (1997b). 'The ''extreme heresy'' of John Dewey and Arthur F. Bentley II: Knowing, knowing and the known,'Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 33: 1003–1033.
Torgerson, D. (1985). 'Contextual orientation in policy analysis: The contribution of Harold D. Lasswell,' Policy Sciences 18: 241–261.
Truman, D. (1951). The Governmental Process: Political Interests and Public Opinion. New York: Knopf.
Wyer, R. and O. Victor (1993). 'Affect and political judgment,' in S. Iyengar and J. McGuire, eds.,Explorations in Political Psychology. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, pp. 296–315.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ascher, W., Hirschfelder-Ascher, B. Linking Lasswell’s political psychology and the policy sciences. Policy Sciences 37, 23–36 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:OLIC.0000035460.18318.b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:OLIC.0000035460.18318.b0