Harold Seidman

Who was Harold Seidman?

Harold Seidman was an American political scientist who is best known for a classic work in government studies and public administration - Politics, Position and Power: The Dynamics of Federal Organization, now in its fifth edition. He was a well-known expert in Washington DC bureaucratic politics and was particularly expert in the organization of government corporations.

Seidman attended Brown University for both his Bachelors and a Masters degrees. For a time, Seidman worked on the editorial staff of the magazine, The Nation. In 1943, he completed a Ph.D. at Yale University, where he was in the political science department with Dwight Waldo as a colleague.

Seidman was a prolific writer. Between 1930 and 1984, he wrote many articles and books considered important in the field of public administration.

Seidman ended his career in public service and began teaching as a Professor in the Political Science department at the University of Connecticut where he taught from 1971-1984. His collected papers are archived at the University of Connecticut. Seidman then taught at Johns Hopkins University Center for the Study of American Government in Washington, DC until his death.