Harold Seidman

Harold Seidman (July 2, 1911 – August 20, 2002) was an American political scientist who is best known for a classic work in government studies and public administration: Politics, Position and Power: The Dynamics of Federal Organization, now in its fifth edition. He was a well-known expert in US federal bureaucracy and the organization of quasi-public corporations.[1][2][3]

Harold Seidman
Born(1911-07-02)July 2, 1911
Brooklyn, New York, US
DiedAugust 20, 2002(2002-08-20) (aged 91)
Washington, D.C.
Occupation(s)Civil servant, professor
Academic background
Alma materBrown University (AB, MA)
Yale University (PhD)
Academic work
DisciplinePolitical science
Sub-disciplinePublic administration
InstitutionsUS Bureau of the Budget
University of Connecticut
Johns Hopkins University
Notable worksPolitics, Position and Power: The Dynamics of Federal Organization

Biography

Seidman was born in Brooklyn, New York, and attended Poly Prep Country Day School. He graduated from Brown University with both his Bachelor of Arts (1934) and Master of Arts (1935) degrees in political science. While at Brown he worked summers on the editorial staff of The Nation. In 1943, he received a PhD in government from Yale University.[4]

From 1938 to 1943, Seidman worked as director of research for the New York City Department of Investigation under Thomas E. Dewey and William Bernard Herlands. He organized a college student internship program and conducted investigations.[5]

From 1943 to 1968, Seidman worked for the U.S. Bureau of the Budget. He started out as a management analyst and rose to become chief of the Government Organization Branch in 1961 and Assistant Director of Management and Organization in 1964. He was involved in the creation of the Marshall Plan and Alaska's and Hawaii's bids for statehood. In retirement, he consulted for the government, serving on President Richard Nixon's Ash Council on Executive Office Reorganization.[5]

After retiring from the civil service, Seidman worked as a professor of political science at the University of Connecticut from 1971 to 1984. He was also a research fellow, visiting lecturer, and visiting professor at the University of Leeds (1971–1975). After retiring from UConn, he spent three years as a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution. He was subsequently a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University Center for the Study of American Government from 1987 until his death in 2002.[3]

Seidman wrote numerous articles and two books influential in the field of public administration. He wrote Labor Czars: A History of Labor Racketeering (1938) and Politics, Position, and Power: The Dynamics of Federal Organization (1970).[1]

Seidman received the American Society for Public Administration's Keeper of the Flame Award in 2001. He was a member of the Cosmos Club.[1] He never married and had no children.[3]

References
  1. Bernstein, Adam (2002-08-22). "Harold Seidman". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  2. Peckenpaugh, Jason (2002-08-21). "Leading public administration scholar and civil servant dies". Government Executive. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  3. Boutilier, Emily Gold (2002). "Organization Man". Brown Alumni Magazine. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  4. Hess, Jerry N. (1970-07-29). "Dr. Harold Seidman Oral History Interview". Truman Presidential Library and Museum. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  5. "Collection: Harold Seidman Papers | UConn Archives & Special Collections ArchivesSpace". archivessearch.lib.uconn.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
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