Martin Allen Shefter (1943 – November 3, 2023) was an American political scientist and author who was a professor emeritus in the Department of

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

at Cornell University. He is noted for his research on

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

politics and on how changes in the international system shape political

institutions An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...

and the conduct of politics in the United States.

Biography

Shefter graduated with a B.A. in

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1964 and completed his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degree 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 ...

in 1970. His doctoral dissertation examined "City Hall and State House: State Legislative Involvement in the Politics of

and

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

." Shefter taught

political science 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 ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, Cornell, and 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 ...

, before returning to Cornell University in 1986. Shefter teaches urban politics,

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

and movements, and American political development. From 1995, Shefter was a member of the executive committee of the Politics and History Section of the

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 ...

and served as president of the section for 1996–97. Shefter died on November 3, 2023, at the age of 79.

Select publications

*''Patronage and its Opponents: A Theory and Some European Cases''. 1977.

. *''Political Crisis, Fiscal Crisis: The Collapse and Revival of New York City''. 1985.

Basic Books Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1950 and located in New York City, now an imprint of Hachette Book Group. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and his ...

. *''Politics By Other Means: Politicians, Prosecutors, and the Press from Watergate to Whitewater''. 1990.

. (written with Benjamin Ginsberg). *''Capital of the American Century: The National and International Influence of New York City''. 1993.

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 ...

. (editor). *''Political Parties and the State: The American Historical Experience''. 1994.

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

. *''Shaped By War and Trade: International Influences on American Political Development''. 2002.

. (edited with Ira Katznelson).Katznelson, Ira, and Shefter, Martin (eds.), ''Shaped by War and Trade'', Princeton University Press, 2002, ISBN
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References

1943 births 2023 deaths American political scientists Cornell University faculty Cornell University alumni Harvard University alumni Harvard University faculty University of Chicago faculty {{US-polisci-bio-stub