Carl Joachim Friedrich
Encyclopedia
Carl Joachim Friedrich was a German-American professor and political theorist.
His writings on Law
and Constitutionalism
made him one the world's leading political scientists in the post-World War II
period. He is one of the most influential scholars of Totalitarianism
.
(inventor of the surgical rubber glove) and a Prussian countess of the von Bülow
family. He attended the Gymnasium Philippinum
from 1911 to 1919, where he received an elite German secondary education focusing on classical languages and literature (at his American naturalization proceeding, he described his religion as "Homer
"). Friedrich studied under Alfred Weber
, the brother of Max Weber
, at the University of Heidelberg, where he graduated in 1925, having also attended several other universities and even put in a brief stint working in the Belgian coal mines. Carl's family had strong ties to the United States. His brother, Otto Friedrich, went on to become a industrialist prominent in the German rubber industry. Both brothers lived and studied in America on and off immediately after World War I, though Carl elected to remain in the United States and Otto to return to Germany. They temporarily broke off relations during the 1940s because of Otto's allegiance to the Nazi party and prominent role in German industry during the Third Reich but reestablished contact after the end of World War II.
In the 1920s, while a student in the US, Carl founded (and was President of) of the German Academic Exchange Service
, through which he first met the love of his life, Lenore Pelham, also a writer and at the time a student at Rockford College
outside of Chicago
. The two later married. In 1926 he was appointed as a lecturer in Government at Harvard University
. He received his Ph.D. from Heidelberg in 1930. When Hitler came to power he decided to remain in the United States and become a naturalized citizen. He was appointed Professor of Government at Harvard in 1936.
Friedrich's main areas of thought were the problems of leadership and bureaucracy in government, public administration, and comparative political institutions. An extremely popular lecturer, Friedrich also wrote prolifically, producing thirty-one volumes on political history, government, and philosophy and editing another twenty-two (then the second most in Harvard's history). In the 1930s, Professor Friedrich also played a leading role, with a student of his, the then-unknown David Riesman
, by his side, in efforts to help Jewish scholars, lawyers, and journalists who were fleeing Nazi Germany and other Fascist regimes resettle in the United States. He persuaded one of them, the pianist Rudolf Serkin
, to give a concert at his farm in Brattleboro, Vermont
, an event which led to the establishment of the Marlboro Music Festival.
An expert on German Constitutional Law and the conditions surrounding its breakdown, Friedrich supported representative democracy
. He strongly opposed direct democracy, however, particularly the use (or misuse) of referendums, as leading to totalitarianism. He stressed the necessity for maintaining the rule of law, supplemented by a strong infrastructure of civil institutions, and was highly suspicious of grass-roots popular movements.
During World War II, Friedrich helped found the School of Overseas Administration to train officers for military work abroad and served as its director from 1943-46. He also served on the Executive Committee of the Council for Democracy, concerned with convincing the American people of the necessity for fighting totalitarianism and with strengthening national morale.
Friedrich, who was arguably the most knowledgeable scholar in his field (of German Constitutional history) of his time, was endowed with a healthy self regard. Indeed some of his colleagues at Harvard regarded him as a "somewhat hybristic person who was overly confident of his own abilities."
Friedrich was the author of an article "Poison in Our System" for the June 1941 issue of the Atlantic Monthly, criticizing Songs For John Doe, an album of songs against Roosevelt's peacetime draft (issued in May, 1941, before Hitler's Germany had declared war on the US), by the Almanac Singers
, who included the then twenty-one-year-old Pete Seeger
, performing under the pseudonym 'Pete Bowers'. Friedrich was apparently as alarmed by the potential for uncontrolled spread of such topical songs as he was by their (fairly innocuous by current standards) content, and opined that "mere" legal suppression would be an inadequate antidote, calling for the establishment of civilian pressure groups to take cultural countermeasures:
From 1946-48 Professor Friedrich served as Constitutional and Governmental Affairs Adviser to the Military Governor of Germany, General Lucius D. Clay. He advised the American military on the denazification
of Occupied Germany and participated in work leading to the drafting of the West German Basic Law and the creation of Germany's States' constitutions
. He later advised on the constitutions of Puerto Rico
, the Virgin Islands
, and Israel
, among others. Between 1955-71 Friedrich was Eaton Professor of the Science of Government at Harvard University and Professor of Political Science at the University of Heidelberg from 1956-66. He taught alternately at Harvard and Heidelberg, until his retirement in 1971. He later taught at the University of Manchester
and Duke University
, among others. He also served as president of the American Political Science Association
in 1962 and of the International Political Science Association
from 1967-70. In 1967, Friedrich was awarded the Knight Commander's Cross of the German Order of Merit by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Professor Friedrich's many students included such noted political theorists as Judith Shklar, Benjamin Barber
, and Zbigniew Brzezinski
.
's idea of the "constitutional state" -- are viewed as potentially anti-democratic by Hans J. Lietzmann. Schmitt believed that the sovereign is above the law. Klaus von Beyme
sees the main focus of Friedrich's theories as the "creation and preservation of robust institutions". This can be seen as influencing his work on the creation of Germany's States' constitutions. He presciently predicted and laid out a theoretical framework for the European Union
, and also predicted, from his perspective as a scholar of totalitarianism, that the United States would turn towards dictatorship. His best guess as to when this might occur was the year 2000.
His writings on Law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
and Constitutionalism
Constitutionalism
Constitutionalism has a variety of meanings. Most generally, it is "a complex of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law"....
made him one the world's leading political scientists in the post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
period. He is one of the most influential scholars of Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
.
Biography
Born on June 5, 1901, in Leipzig, Germany, the site of the first significant defeat of the Napoleonic armies, Carl Joachim Friedrich was the son of renowned professor of medicine Paul Leopold FriedrichPaul Leopold Friedrich
Paul Leopold Friedrich was a German surgeon born in the town of Roda, Saxe-Altenburg.In 1888 he received his doctorate at the University of Leipzig, and as a young assistant worked under Robert Koch at the Reich Health Office in Berlin...
(inventor of the surgical rubber glove) and a Prussian countess of the von Bülow
Bülow
Bülow may refer to:*Bülow, Germany, a municipality in the district of Parchim, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, GermanyThe von Bülow family are a German / Danish noble family, with the titles Baron or Prince...
family. He attended the Gymnasium Philippinum
Gymnasium Philippinum
Gymnasium Philippinum or Philippinum High School is an almost 500-year-old secondary school in Marburg, Hesse, Germany.- History :The Gymnasium Philippinum was founded in 1527 as a Protestant school based at the same time with the University of Marburg created by Philipp I of Hesse...
from 1911 to 1919, where he received an elite German secondary education focusing on classical languages and literature (at his American naturalization proceeding, he described his religion as "Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
"). Friedrich studied under Alfred Weber
Alfred Weber
Alfred Weber was a German economist, sociologist and theoretician of culture whose work was influential in the development of modern economic geography.-Life:...
, the brother of Max Weber
Max Weber
Karl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber was a German sociologist and political economist who profoundly influenced social theory, social research, and the discipline of sociology itself...
, at the University of Heidelberg, where he graduated in 1925, having also attended several other universities and even put in a brief stint working in the Belgian coal mines. Carl's family had strong ties to the United States. His brother, Otto Friedrich, went on to become a industrialist prominent in the German rubber industry. Both brothers lived and studied in America on and off immediately after World War I, though Carl elected to remain in the United States and Otto to return to Germany. They temporarily broke off relations during the 1940s because of Otto's allegiance to the Nazi party and prominent role in German industry during the Third Reich but reestablished contact after the end of World War II.
In the 1920s, while a student in the US, Carl founded (and was President of) of the German Academic Exchange Service
German Academic Exchange Service
The German Academic Exchange Service or DAAD is the largest German support organisation in the field of international academic co-operation....
, through which he first met the love of his life, Lenore Pelham, also a writer and at the time a student at Rockford College
Rockford College
Rockford College is a private American liberal arts college in Rockford, Illinois. It was founded in 1847 as Rockford Female Seminary and changed its name in 1892. The college is known as the alma mater of Nobel Peace Prize winner Jane Addams, who was a member of the class of...
outside of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. The two later married. In 1926 he was appointed as a lecturer in Government at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He received his Ph.D. from Heidelberg in 1930. When Hitler came to power he decided to remain in the United States and become a naturalized citizen. He was appointed Professor of Government at Harvard in 1936.
Friedrich's main areas of thought were the problems of leadership and bureaucracy in government, public administration, and comparative political institutions. An extremely popular lecturer, Friedrich also wrote prolifically, producing thirty-one volumes on political history, government, and philosophy and editing another twenty-two (then the second most in Harvard's history). In the 1930s, Professor Friedrich also played a leading role, with a student of his, the then-unknown David Riesman
David Riesman
David Riesman , was a sociologist, attorney, and educator....
, by his side, in efforts to help Jewish scholars, lawyers, and journalists who were fleeing Nazi Germany and other Fascist regimes resettle in the United States. He persuaded one of them, the pianist Rudolf Serkin
Rudolf Serkin
Rudolf Serkin , was a Bohemian-born pianist.-Life and early career:Serkin was born in Eger, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire to a Russian-Jewish family....
, to give a concert at his farm in Brattleboro, Vermont
Brattleboro, Vermont
Brattleboro, originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located in the southeast corner of the state, along the state line with New Hampshire. The population was 12,046 at the 2010 census...
, an event which led to the establishment of the Marlboro Music Festival.
Marlboro Music School and Festival
The Marlboro Music School and Festival is a retreat for advanced classical training and musicianship held for seven weeks each summer in Marlboro, Vermont...
An expert on German Constitutional Law and the conditions surrounding its breakdown, Friedrich supported representative democracy
Representative democracy
Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...
. He strongly opposed direct democracy, however, particularly the use (or misuse) of referendums, as leading to totalitarianism. He stressed the necessity for maintaining the rule of law, supplemented by a strong infrastructure of civil institutions, and was highly suspicious of grass-roots popular movements.
During World War II, Friedrich helped found the School of Overseas Administration to train officers for military work abroad and served as its director from 1943-46. He also served on the Executive Committee of the Council for Democracy, concerned with convincing the American people of the necessity for fighting totalitarianism and with strengthening national morale.
Friedrich, who was arguably the most knowledgeable scholar in his field (of German Constitutional history) of his time, was endowed with a healthy self regard. Indeed some of his colleagues at Harvard regarded him as a "somewhat hybristic person who was overly confident of his own abilities."
Friedrich was the author of an article "Poison in Our System" for the June 1941 issue of the Atlantic Monthly, criticizing Songs For John Doe, an album of songs against Roosevelt's peacetime draft (issued in May, 1941, before Hitler's Germany had declared war on the US), by the Almanac Singers
Almanac Singers
The Almanac Singers were a group of folk musicians who, as their name indicates, specialized in topical songs, especially songs connected with the labor movement...
, who included the then twenty-one-year-old Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, performing under the pseudonym 'Pete Bowers'. Friedrich was apparently as alarmed by the potential for uncontrolled spread of such topical songs as he was by their (fairly innocuous by current standards) content, and opined that "mere" legal suppression would be an inadequate antidote, calling for the establishment of civilian pressure groups to take cultural countermeasures:
These recordings are distributed under the innocuous appeal: "Sing out for Peace". Yet they are strictly subversive and illegal. . . The three records sell for one dollar and you are asked to "play them in your home, play them in your union hall, take them back to your people." Probably some of these songs fall under the criminal provisions of the Selective Service Act, and to that extent it is a matter for the Attorney-General. But you never can handle situations of this kind democratically by mere suppression. Unless civic groups and individuals will make a determined effort to counteract such appeals by equally effective methods, democratic morale will decline.
From 1946-48 Professor Friedrich served as Constitutional and Governmental Affairs Adviser to the Military Governor of Germany, General Lucius D. Clay. He advised the American military on the denazification
Denazification
Denazification was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the National Socialist ideology. It was carried out specifically by removing those involved from positions of influence and by disbanding or rendering...
of Occupied Germany and participated in work leading to the drafting of the West German Basic Law and the creation of Germany's States' constitutions
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
. He later advised on the constitutions of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
, and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, among others. Between 1955-71 Friedrich was Eaton Professor of the Science of Government at Harvard University and Professor of Political Science at the University of Heidelberg from 1956-66. He taught alternately at Harvard and Heidelberg, until his retirement in 1971. He later taught at the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
and Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, among others. He also served as president of the American Political Science Association
American Political Science Association
The American Political Science Association is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903, it publishes three academic journals...
in 1962 and of the International Political Science Association
International Political Science Association
The International Political Science Association , founded under the auspices of UNESCO in 1949, is an international scholarly association. IPSA is devoted to the advancement of political science in all parts of the world...
from 1967-70. In 1967, Friedrich was awarded the Knight Commander's Cross of the German Order of Merit by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Professor Friedrich's many students included such noted political theorists as Judith Shklar, Benjamin Barber
Benjamin Barber
Benjamin R. Barber is an American political theorist and author perhaps best known for his 1996 bestseller, Jihad vs. McWorld.-Career:...
, and Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski is a Polish American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981....
.
Ideas
Friedrich's concept of a "good democracy" rejected basic democracy as totalitarian. Some of the assumptions of Friedrich's theory of totalitarianism - particularly his acceptance of Carl SchmittCarl Schmitt
Carl Schmitt was a German jurist, philosopher, political theorist, and professor of law.Schmitt published several essays, influential in the 20th century and beyond, on the mentalities that surround the effective wielding of political power...
's idea of the "constitutional state" -- are viewed as potentially anti-democratic by Hans J. Lietzmann. Schmitt believed that the sovereign is above the law. Klaus von Beyme
Klaus von Beyme
Klaus von Beyme is Professor of Political Science Emeritus at the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg.- Education :...
sees the main focus of Friedrich's theories as the "creation and preservation of robust institutions". This can be seen as influencing his work on the creation of Germany's States' constitutions. He presciently predicted and laid out a theoretical framework for the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, and also predicted, from his perspective as a scholar of totalitarianism, that the United States would turn towards dictatorship. His best guess as to when this might occur was the year 2000.
Books
- Der Verfassungsstaat der Neuzeit (The Modern Constitutional State). (Berlin, 1953)
- with Zbigniew BrzezinskiZbigniew BrzezinskiZbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski is a Polish American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981....
: Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1956) - Totalitäre Diktatur (The Totalitarian Dictatorship). (Stuttgart, 1957)
- Man and His Government: An Empirical Theory of Politics (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963)
- The Age of the Baroque: 1610-1660 (New York: Harper & Row, 1952)
- Tradition and Authority (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1972)
- The Philosophy of Kant (Modern Library #266) (Kant's Moral and Political Writings) Ed. with an introduction, 1949
Others
- Hans J. Lietzmann, Von der konstitutionellen zur totalitären Diktatur. Carl Joachim Friedrichs Totalitarismustheorie (From Constitutionalism to Totalitarian Dictatorship: Carl Joachim Friedrichs' Totalitarianism Theory). Alfred Söllner, Ed. Totalitarismus. Eine Ideengeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts (Totalitarianism: A History of 20th Century Thought). (1997).
External links
- DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst) The German Academic Exchange Service http://www.daad.org/?p=46391