Charles A. McClelland
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spells his middle name Armour
McClelland (April 25, 1917 – March 31, 2006) was an American
political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
,
systems analyst A systems analyst, also known as business technology analyst, is an information technology (IT) professional who specializes in analyzing, designing and implementing information systems. Systems analysts assess the suitability of information syst ...
and Professor
International Relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...
at the
San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...
, who was among the first to introduce
General Systems Theory Systems theory is the transdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or artificial. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its struc ...
in the field of
International Relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...
.


Biography

Born and raised in
Oakley, Idaho Oakley is a city in Cassia County, Idaho, United States. The population was 763 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 668 in 2000.San Jose State College San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State Universit ...
, and his MA and PhD in
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
from the
University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...
. In 1940s McClelland joined the faculty of the
San Francisco State College San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is part of the Califor ...
, where he became professor of history and international relations at the department of International Relations, and chairman of the division of social science. He was also visiting professor at the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
, department of Political Science, and joined the faculty as Professor, department of International Relations at the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
. One of his students at San Francisco State College was James N. Rosenau. He was president of
Society for General Systems Research The International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) is a worldwide organization for systems sciences. The overall purpose of the ISSS is: to promote the development of conceptual frameworks based on general system theory, as well as their i ...
from 1959 to 1961. In 1967 he received an USC Associates Awards for Letters, Arts and Sciences. In the 1970s McClelland received research grants from the
Advanced Research Projects Agency The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adva ...
, a research arm of the Pentagon. In 1978–79 he was a Scholar in Residence at the Annenberg School of Communications at the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
.


Work

With Walter F. Buckley, Morton A. Kaplan, Karl W. Deutsch,
Robert A. Dahl Robert Alan Dahl (; December 17, 1915 – February 5, 2014) was an American Political philosophy, political theorist and Sterling Professor, Sterling Professor of Political Science at Yale University. He established the pluralism (political the ...
and
David Easton David Easton (June 24, 1917 – July 19, 2014) was a Canadian-born American political scientist. From 1947 to 1997, he served as a professor of political science at the University of Chicago. At the forefront of both the behavioralist and pos ...
McClelland was among the first to introduce
General Systems Theory Systems theory is the transdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or artificial. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its struc ...
in the social sciences. In his 1966 book "''Theory and the International System''" McClelland introduced the idea to apply general systems ideas in the study of international relations from different perspectives, which led to the definition of different approaches. In 1969 McClelland postulated the "''wisdom approach''", an approach that "invites scholars to prudently examine history and appreciate the precarious nature of human conduct, rather than being overwhelmed by masses of data, which more often than not lead to blind spots of partisanship".Farhang Rajāyī (2000) ''Globalization on Trial: The Human Condition and the Information Civilization''. p.40


Publications

* 1955, ''Applications of General Systems Theory in International Relations'' * 1960, ''The United Nations: the Continuing Debate''. Chandler publishing. 1960 * 1960, ''Nuclear weapons, missiles, and future war: problem for the sixties''. * 1962, ''College teaching of international relations; problems of organization and collaboration. A report on applied and experimental studies of undergraduate college education in international relations.'' * 1967, ''Theory of the International System''. New York : The Macmillan Company. * 1970, ''An Interaction Survey of the Middle East'', with Anne Ancoli. * 1972, ''International Events Interaction Analysis: Some Research Considerations''. With, Edward E. Azar and Richard A. Brody (eds.) Beverly Hills: Sage Publications. ;Articles * 1958, "Systems and History in International Relations". In: ''General Systems Yearbook'' 3 (1958), p. 237. * 1959, "A Classification of International Relations Theory" in: ''American Behavioral Scientist'', Vol. 2, No. 4, 32–34 (1959) * 1960, "The function of theory in international relations" in: ''Journal of Conflict Resolution'' 4 (1960), pp. 303–336. * 1961, "The Acute International Crisis," in: ''World Politics'', Vol. 14 (October 1961), p. 199. * 1962, "General Systems and the Social Sciences," in: ''A Review of General Semantics'', 18 (1962), 456. * 1972, "The Beginning, Duration, and Abatement of International Crises: Comparisons in Two Conflict Arenas", in C. F. Hermann (ed.), ''International Crises: Insights from Behavioral Research'' (New York: Free Press, 1972). ;Publications about McClelland: * Charles P. Schleicher (1967), "Reviewed work(s): Theory of the International System by Charles A. McClelland", in: ''The Western Political Quarterly'', Vol. 20, No. 1 (Mar., 1967), pp. 232–233


References


External links


Charles McClelland
at the ISSS website. {{DEFAULTSORT:McClelland, Charles A. 1917 births 2006 deaths American political writers American male non-fiction writers San Jose State University alumni San Francisco State University faculty American systems scientists University of Michigan faculty People from Oakley, Idaho 20th-century American male writers Presidents of the International Society for the Systems Sciences