PHILIP SELZNICK

BACKGROUND
The death of Philip Selznick on June 12, 2010, at age 91, took from us a
scholarly giant, who helped shape the sociology of organizations and transform
the social study of law. Selznick enriched the Berkeley community for over half a
century. He arrived in 1952 as an assistant professor in the Sociology
Department; the unit he would later chair during the turbulent period of the Free
Speech Movement. From 1961-72, he served as Founding Director of Berkeleys
Center for the Study of Law and Society, which soon became a international
destination for interdisciplinary research. He joined the Law faculty in 1977 and
was the Founding Chair of Berkeley Laws doctoral program in Jurisprudence and
Social Policy. He remained active long after his 1984 retirement and received
numerous lifetime achievement awards and academic honors.

contributions towards public administration

he main supporters of the neo-classical theory of organization that began in the
1930s. He is also a major contributor to the sociology of law by developing his
ideas about the institutions of law and the problems encountered and possible
responsive to the organization in terms of the preliminary work on the sociology
of formal organizations. Philip Selznick is the idea in the theory of mass society.

signficant writing / article

An Approach to a Theory of Bureaucracy (1943).

Foundations of the Theory of Organization (1948).
Study in the Sociology of Formal Organization (1949).
Leadership in Administration (1957).