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.

Beetham worked at the University of Manchester until April 1980 when he left to take up the Professorship of Politics (succeeding Ralph Miliband) 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 (jointly authored with Professor Kevin Boyle of Essex University) 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.

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 (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.

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