Guillermo Alberto O'Donnell Ure (February 24, 1936 – November 29, 2011) was a prominent Argentine political scientist who specialized in comparative politics and Latin American politics. He spent most of his career working in Argentina and the United States, and who made lasting contributions to theorizing on authoritarianism and democratization, democracy and the state, and the politics of Latin America.Helen Delpar, Looking South: The Evolution of Latin Americanist Scholarship in the United States. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press 2008, 181. His brother is Pacho O'Donnell.
Biography Guillermo Alberto O'Donnell Ure was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to a family of Irish descent from County Donegal.For information about O'Donnell's biography, see the autobiographical references in Guillermo O’Donnell, “Preface,” pp. ix-xxi, in O’Donnell, Counterpoints: Selected Essays on Authoritarianism and Democratization (Notre Dame, In.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1999); the interview with Guillermo O'Donnell, "Democratization, Political Engagement and Agenda Setting Research," in Gerardo L. Munck and Richard Snyder, Passion, Craft, and Method in Comparative Politics (Johns Hopkins, 2007); and Gerardo L. Munck, “Guillermo O’Donnell,” pp. 878-79, in Jay Kinsbruner (editor in chief), Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture Vol. 4, 2nd. ed. (New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 2008). He studied law at the University of Buenos Aires and became a lawyer in 1958, aged 22. He was involved in student politics, and was Secretary and Acting President of the Buenos Aires University Federation (FUBA), part of the Argentine University Federation, in 1954–1955. Later he served as national Vice-Minister of Interior (Political Affairs), in Argentina, in 1963. But he focused mainly on making a living by working as a lawyer and teaching. During these years he taught in the School of Law at the University of Buenos Aires (1958–66) and at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (1966–68).Interview with Guillermo O'Donnell, "Democratization, Political Engagement and Agenda Setting Research," in Gerardo L. Munck and Richard Snyder, Passion, Craft, and Method in Comparative Politics (Johns Hopkins, 2007).
In 1968 O'Donnell left Argentina to pursue graduate studies in political science at Yale University. He earned his master's degree in political science in 1971, but rather than complete his dissertation and take a job offer from Harvard University, he returned to Buenos Aires. The text he started to work on at Yale was published as Modernization and Bureaucratic-Authoritarianism (1973),Guillermo O’Donnell, Modernization and Bureaucratic-Authoritarianism: Studies in South American Politics (Institute of International Studies/University of California, 1973). a book that immediately drew a lot of attention and led to a seminal debate about Latin American politics in David Collier's edited volume, The New Authoritarianism in Latin America (1979).David Collier (ed.), The New Authoritarianism in Latin America (Princeton University Press, 1979). But since this text was published, it could not be presented as a dissertation. And thus O'Donnell would not receive his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University until he presented a new dissertation and thus was awarded his Ph.D. belatedly, once he was an established scholar and professor, in 1987.The work that earned O'Donnell his Ph.D. was 1966-1973. El Estado burocrático autoritario. Triunfos, derrotas y crisis (Editorial Belgrano, 1982); later published in English as Bureaucratic Authoritarianism. Argentina, 1966-1973, in Comparative Perspective (University of California Press, 1988).
In Argentina, O'Donnell initially taught at the Universidad del Salvador (1972–75) and was a researcher at the Centro de Investigaciones en Administración Pública (CIAP), at the Torcuato di Tella Institute, between 1971 and 1975. Subsequently, O'Donnell was a founding member of CEDES (Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad), where he worked from 1975 until 1979. During this period, Argentina was increasingly swept by violence, as guerrilla organizations such as the Montoneros sought to undermine the government and eventually the military rulers came to power in 1976 and launched a dirty war. In this climate, CEDES was one of the few research centers where critical thinking about politics thrived. Indeed, in 1978, O'Donnell launched a major research project on democratic transitions in Southern Europe and Latin America, which he co-directed with Philippe C. Schmitter, sponsored by the Latin American Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, in Washington, D.C. The project began with three conferences, in 1979, 1980, and 1981, that gathered many of the world’s most distinguished scholars of democracy, including Robert A. Dahl, Juan Linz, Adam Przeworski, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, and Albert Otto Hirschman. It would result in a landmark publication: Transitions from Authoritarian Rule. Prospects for Democracy (1986).Guillermo O’Donnell, Philippe Schmitter and Laurence Whitehead (eds.), Transitions from Authoritarian Rule. Prospects for Democracy 4 Vols. (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986).
In late 1979, O'Donnell left Argentina again, this time for Brazil. He worked as a researcher at IUPERJ (Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro) (1980–82) and then moved to the research center CEBRAP (Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento) in São Paulo in 1982, replacing sociologist Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who had become a national Senator. But O'Donnell moved again, now from Brazil to the United States, in 1983. Thereafter, though he maintained his affiliation with CEBRAP until 1991, he taught at the University of Notre Dame from 1983 until 2009, where he was Helen Kellogg Professor of Government and International Studies. He was also academic director of the Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies of the University of Notre Dame from 1983 until 1997. His twenty-six year association with Notre Dame made this university the most important institutional home of O'Donnell's career.O'Donnell, "Interview with Guillermo O'Donnell: "Democratization, Political Engagement and Agenda Setting Research," in Gerardo L. Munck, and Richard Snyder, Passion, Craft, and Method in Comparative Politics (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007), p. 274.
During his career, O'Donnell played a leadership role in many professional associations. He served as president of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) from 1988 to 1991, and was vice-president of the American Political Science Association (APSA) in 1999–2000. He also held many short term appointment at universities around the world. He was a visiting professor at the University of Michigan in 1973-74; the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLASCO), in Buenos Aires, in 1978-79; the University of California, Berkeley, in 1982; the Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Ciencias Sociales, at the Instituto Juan March, in Madrid, in 1997; the University of Cambridge, where he was the Simon Bolivar Distinguished Visiting Professor in 2002-03; and the University of Oxford, where he was Senior Visiting Fellow in Politics at Nuffield College in 2003-04 and John G. Winant Visiting Professorship of American Government in 2007-08. He also was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (Stanford, California) in 2001-2002.
He bridged the worlds of academia and politics, working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) during the 2000s, collaborating with Dante Caputo and Gerardo Munck in the preparation of the United Nations Development Programme’s report Democracy in Latin America. Toward a Citizens’ Democracy (2004), and a follow-up text, Democracia/Estado/Ciudadanía. Hacia un Estado de y para la democracia en América Latina (2008). O'Donnell also was a member of the Advisory Board of the United Nations Democracy Fund and a member of the scientific committee of Fundación IDEAS, Spain's Socialist Party's think-tank.
O'Donnell returned to his native Buenos Aires in 2009. There he continued to be active on the local academic scene. He joined the Escuela de Política y Gobierno, at the National University of General San Martín (Universidad Nacional de San Martín [UNSAM[), his last professional affiliation. At UNSAM O'Donnell founded the Centro de Investigaciones sobre el Estado y la Democracia en América Latina (CIEDAL), in 2010. In 2011, he was diagnosed with cancer and, after a four month battle, he died on November 29, 2011, at the age of 75."Notre Dame Political Scientist Guillermo O’Donnell Dies" A public wake was held in the legislative building of the City of Buenos Aires, and his remains were buried in the Recoleta Cemetery.Kees Biekart, "Guillermo O'Donnell's ‘Thoughtful Wishing’ about Democracy and Regime Change." Development and Change 46(4)(2015): 913–933.
He is survived by his wife, Gabriela Ippolito-O'Donnell, and his daughter, María O'Donnell.
Honors and awards Title of "Ciudadano Ilustre de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires" (distinguished citizen of the City of Buenos Aires) (2007). First ever recipient of the Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the International Political Science Association (IPSA) (2006). Kalman Silvert Award for lifetime contribution to the study of Latin America, the highest honor of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) (2003). Doctor Honoris Causa, National University of Rosario, Argentina (1999). "Premio Konex en Ciencias Políticas," Buenos Aires, Argentina (1996). Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1995). The Latin American Studies Association created the Guillermo O'Donnell Democracy Award and Lectureship.
Various awards are named after O’Donnell: The International Political Science Association (IPSA) Guillermo O’Donnell Award for Latin-American Scholars The Guillermo O’Donnell Democracy Award and Lectureship of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA)
Academic research O’Donnell was a theorist of authoritarianism, democratization, and state capacity. He introduced several new concepts into political science, such as bureaucratic authoritarianism, horizontal accountability, delegative democracy, and brown areas.O'Donnell, "Interview with Guillermo O'Donnell: "Democratization, Political Engagement and Agenda Setting Research," in Gerardo L. Munck, and Richard Snyder, Passion, Craft, and Method in Comparative Politics (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007), pp. 298-99. His best known work is Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Tentative Conclusions about Uncertain Democracies (1986), with Philippe C. Schmitter.
Modernization and Bureaucratic Authoritarianism O’Donnell’s Modernization and Bureaucratic Authoritarianism (1973) offered a pioneering analysis of the breakdown of democracies in South America in the 1960s. He argued that the form of authoritarianism experienced by South America starting in the 1960s was novel because it was based on modern technocrats and a professionalized military organization, instead of populist politicians or traditional military strongmen. To capture this distinctiveness, he coined the term 'bureaucratic authoritarianism'. The concept was applied in the literature to Brazil (1964-1985), Argentina (1966-1973, 1976-1983), Chile (1973-1990), and Uruguay (1973-1985).David Collier, "Bureaucratic Authoritarianism," pp. 93-95, in Joel Krieger (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World, 2nd Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 93.