Klaus von Beyme


Klaus Gustav Heinrich von Beyme is Professor of Political Science Emeritus at the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg.

Education

Following the German Abitur in Celle in 1954, from 1954 to 1956 Beyme initially began his studies towards a career as a publisher. Thereafter, from 1956 to 1961, he studied Political Science, History, History of Art and Sociology at the Universities of Heidelberg, Bonn, Munich, Paris and Moscow. The unusual choice of Moscow as a place of study was made, based on interest and on Beyme's personal history. He learned Russian in adult education courses and successfully applied to study in Moscow within the scope of a student exchange programme. From 1961 to 1962, Beyme was a Research Fellow at the Russian Research Centre of Harvard University and Assistant to Carl Joachim Friedrich. After obtaining his doctoral degree in Heidelberg in 1963, following a period as Academic Assistant, he completed his habilitation thesis in 1967.

Career

Beyme then became a Full Professor at the Eberhard Karl University in Tübingen and in 1971 was also Rector of this University for a short time. In 1972, he was appointed to the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. During the period from 1973 to 1975, he was President of the German Society for Political Science.
From 1974 to 1999, Beyme was a Full Professor and Head of the Department of Political Science at the University of Heidelberg. From 1982 to 1985, he was President of the International Political Science Association, from 1983 to 1990 a member of the Research Council at the European University Institute in Florence, in 1985 Visiting Professor at the École des Sciences Politiques in Paris, in 1979 Visiting Professor at Stanford University, and in 1987 and the years following, he was a Member of the Academia Europaea. In 1989, he was a Visiting Professor at the University of Melbourne, in Australia. From 1990 to 1993, he was a Member of the Board of the Commission for Research into Social and Political Changes in the New Federal States. Since 1999, Beyme has been Emeritus Professor.

Theories

Beyme claims there have been 3 extreme-right waves since 1945:
The nostalgic wave: found in Germany and Italy. These parties have direct links to previous far-right governments, appearing in a time of social and economic turbulence. They quickly disappeared, however.
The anti-tax wave: found mostly in France, occurred in the 1950s and 1960s. Mostly small shop-keepers complained that the little man was left behind in the process. They were also against the Jewish prime minister.
The new/third wave: a pan-European trend which appeared during the 1980s. It is the most significant of the three waves and is still going on to this day.

Research interests

Comparative investigation of governmental systems in Europe, in particular in the former East Block. Beyme has numerous publications to show in his areas of speciality, such as "Comparative Political Science", "Political Theory" and "Policy Analysis". He regards the United States as a role model.
His particular interests include Architecture and Art History. His works, The Age of the Avant-Gardes, Art and Society 1905-1955 and the Fascination of the Exotic, Exoticism, Racism and Sexism in European Art, fully support this. Klaus von Beyme's work on reconstruction combines politological and aesthetic views and relativises the cliché of the special affinity of "conservative" taste in Architecture and fascist thought, in that it elucidates the successful careers of Nazi architects in the post-war years in terms of the examples of Rudolf Hillebrecht, Roland Rainer and Friedrich Tamms.

Awards and offices

Beyme has repeatedly been accorded recognition for his scientific activities, amongst others, in 1995 Honorary Membership of the Humboldt University in Berlin, in 1998 the University Medal of the University of Heidelberg, and in 2001 an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bern. Furthermore, he is a Member of the Academia Europaea and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. In 2008, he was honoured with the Schader Prize. On 2 September 2010 Beyme was honoured for his "enormous contribution to the development of Political Science in Europe and the entire world" and for his many years as Professor of Political Science at different universities around the world with an Honorary Professorship at Lomonosov University in Moscow. In particular, he has contributed significantly to the development of relationships between Lomonosov University and German universities, as mentioned in the laudatory speeches. The conferring of this honour took place within the scope of a ceremonial act, to which the Rector of Moscow University had issued invitations, in the presence of the Mayor of Moscow, Yury Mikhaylovich Luzhkov.
On July 12, 2012, at the 22nd World Congress of Political Science of the International Political Science Association in Madrid, was held the award session of the Prize of the Foundation Mattei Dogan awarded by the International Political Science Association for High Achievement in Political Science. The recipient of the 2012 award was Klaus von Beyme.
A study in 1998 indicated that Beyme was ranked number 10 amongst the world's Political Scientists, the only German in the Top Ten. Beyme's exceptional importance in this area is also seen at the German level. 41 per cent of the scientists questioned considered him as the most important representative of Political Science in Germany. He is ranked second regarding the question of the most important representatives in this area in respect of their "professional political importance". Once again, most of those questioned believed that he has the best reputation of all Political Scientists in the public eye.
Twice Beyme has been amongst the most important representatives of individual fields of research: both for the thematic area, "Political Theory, Political Philosophy and History of Ideas" and for the specialist area, "Comparative Political Science / System Comparison".

Family background

His parents, Wilhelm von Beyme and Dorothee von Rümker, were landowners in Silesia and later hoteliers. Beyme is married to Maja von Oertzen, daughter of the Superior Councillor and Attorney, Detlof von Oertzen, and Viktoria von Blücher. Since the age of 24, Beyme has been a member of the Social Democratic Party. The Prussian minister of state, reformer and adversary of Hardenberg and Stein, Carl Friedrich von Beyme, was one of his ancestors.

Books/edited volumes (selection)