Juan José Linz is a Spanish sociologist and political scientist. He is Sterling Professor

Sterling Professor

A Sterling Professorship is the highest academic rank at Yale University, awarded to a tenured faculty member considered one of the best in his or her field...

 Emeritus of Political Science

Political science

Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 at Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 and an honorary member of the Scientific Council at the Juan March Institute

Juan March Institute

The Juan March Institute, located in Madrid, Spain, is part of the Juan March Foundation, one of Spain's charities for social research. The objective of the institute is to achieve an effect equally through scientific publications and training the next academic generation...

. He is best known for his theories on totalitarian and authoritarian systems of government.

Linz has also done extensive research on the breakdowns of democracy

Democracy

Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

 and the transition back to a democratic regime. He is the author of many works on the subject, including Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, co-authored with Alfred Stepan

Alfred Stepan

Alfred C. Stepan is a comparative political scientist and Wallace S. Sayre Professor of Government at Columbia University, where he is also director of the Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion....

), his seminal work Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes (Rienner, 2000) and his influential essay 'The Perils of Presidentialism'.

Works

From a description of Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes:

"In this classic work, noted political scientist Juan Linz provides an unparalleled study of the nature of nondemocratic regimes. Linz's seminal analysis develops the fundamental distinction between totalitarian and authoritarian systems. It also presents a path-breaking discussion on the personalistic, lawless, nonideological type of authoritarian rule that he calls (following 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...

) the 'sultanistic regime'."

Awards

Linz has received the Prince of Asturias Award of Social Sciences (1987), the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science

Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science

The Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science was established in 1995 by the Johan Skytte Foundation at Uppsala University. The foundation itself goes back to the donation in 1622 from Johan Skytte , politician and chancellor of the university, which established the Skyttean professorship of...

(1996) and the IPSA Karl Deutsch Award (2003).