Samuel Finer British political scientist and historian who specialized in the history of the political structure of Great Britain. Date of Birth: 22.09.1915 Country: Great Britain

1. Biography of Samuel Finer
2. Academic Career
3. Contributions to Political Science

Biography of Samuel Finer

Samuel Finer was a British political scientist and historian who specialized in the history of political systems in Great Britain. Born in 1915 in London, he was the third son of a market trader who had immigrated to England from Bessarabia in the early 1900s. Unfortunately, Finer's parents were killed during a German air raid on London in January 1945.

Influenced by his older brother, renowned political scientist Herman Finer, Samuel Finer chose political science as his profession. He studied at Trinity College, Oxford University, focusing on modern history and classical literature. During World War II, he served as a captain in the signal intelligence service.

Academic Career

In 1950, Finer became a professor at the College of North Staffordshire, and in 1966, he became the head of the Government Department at the University of Manchester. He played a significant role in introducing political science as a subject of study in British universities. From 1974, he served as a professor of management and government at the University of Oxford, eventually becoming a Professor Emeritus in 1982.

Contributions to Political Science

One of Finer's notable contributions to political science was his book "The Man on Horseback: The Role of the Military in Politics" published in 1962. In this book, he discussed three reasons why military professionalism could lead to conflicts with civilian authority. These reasons included the military's perception of serving the state rather than the current government, the potential emergence of military syndicalism where only military experts make defense decisions, and the military's reluctance to involve themselves in "dirty" domestic issues, viewing their role as safeguarding external security.

Finer's most significant work was his three-volume "The History of Government from the Earliest Times," a comparative study of different forms of governance throughout history. It covered civilizations such as Sumer, Egypt, Assyria, Ancient Israel and Judah, Greece, the Roman Empire, China, and the period of industrialization and the formation of constitutional monarchies in Europe. Unfortunately, this monumental work remained unfinished during Finer's lifetime and was posthumously published by Oxford University Press in 1997.