Jane Jebb Mansbridge (born November 19, 1939) is 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 ...

. She is the Charles F. Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values in the Kennedy School of Government at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Mansbridge has made contributions to democratic theory,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

scholarship, and the empirical study of social movements and

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without legislator, elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy m ...

. In April 2018, Mansbridge was announced to be the 24th laureate of the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science.

Early life and education

Mansbridge received her B.A. from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

in 1961, her M.A. 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

in 1966, and her Ph.D. in government from Harvard in 1971. Her father was the publisher and writer Ronald Mansbridge.

Career

Mansbridge previously taught at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

and

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. Mansbridge is particularly known for the distinction between unitary and adversary democracy (based on common and conflicting interests respectively), and for her concepts of gyroscopic representation (based on inner motivation), the selection model of representation, and surrogate representation (representation of others outside one's district). She is currently working on the necessity for legitimate coercion created by our need for "free use" (or "free access") goods. Her first husband was Owen De Long. She was married to sociologist Christopher Jencks from 1976 to his death in 2025.

Prizes, awards and honors

*1971–1972: National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow. *1982–1983:

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

Humanities Fellow. *1985–1986:

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

, Member. * 1987: Co-recipient, APSA Kammerer Award. * 1988: Co-recipient, APSA Schuck Award. *1991–1992:

Russell Sage Foundation The Russell Sage Foundation is an American non-profit organisation established by Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.” It was named after her re ...

, visiting scholar. *1994: Elected member,

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. *1997–1998, 2001–2002:

Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) is an interdisciplinary research institution at Stanford University designed to advance the frontiers of knowledge about human behavior and society, and contribute to the resoluti ...

, Fellow. *1998: Jane Mansbridge Scholar-Activist Award created, Northwestern University. * 2004: Radcliffe Graduate Society Medal. *2005: Jane Mansbridge Research Paper Award (annual) created, Women and Public Policy Program, Kennedy School,

. *2004–2005: Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Fellow 2004–2005. * 2010: Midwest Women's Caucus for Political Science Outstanding Professional Achievement Award. * 2011: APSA James Madison Award. *2012–2013:

American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political scientists in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, it publishes four ...

President. *2014: elected a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. *2017: Received a ''honoris causa'' doctorate by the French university Sciences Po. The ceremony took place December 12. *2018: Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science *2021: Karl Deutsch Award

Bibliography

Books

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Chapters in books

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Journal articles

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Pdf.
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PDF version.
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References

External links

Mansbridge discussing democracy at the Kennedy School

Mansbridge's profile at Harvard
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mansbridge, Jane 1939 births American political philosophers Harvard University alumni Harvard University faculty Living people Members of the Democratic Socialists of America from New York (state) University of Chicago faculty Wellesley College alumni Corresponding fellows of the British Academy