The political sociologist Seymour M. Lipset: Remembered in political science, neglected in sociology

Abstract

Seymour M. Lipset was one of the leading scholars of his generation in political science and sociology. Empirically, this article highlights divergent receptions of Lipset in both disciplines: while Lipset experiences increasing visibility in political science, his visibility in sociology turns out to be rather transitory. To better understand these divergent legacies, this paper identifies major topics in Lipset’s oeuvre and reconstructs the ideas that received the most attention in both disciplines since the 1950s. It becomes apparent that the demise of Lipset in sociology can be explained through his decreasing impact on social stratification research and the fact that three major contributions, Political Man, Party Systems and Voter Alignment, and Some Social Requisites of Democracy, never entered the sociological canon. In contrast, Lipset’s work on democracy has gained a strong foothold in political science and his groundbreaking ‘cleavage theory’ is of continuing relevance to political scientists.