Greenberg, Stanley B. 1945–

views updated

Greenberg, Stanley B. 1945–

(Stanley Bernard Greenberg)

PERSONAL: Born May 10, 1945, in Philadelphia, PA; son of Samuel (an engineer) and Yetta Greenberg; married Pamela Russell, April 16, 1967; children: Kathryn, Anna, Jonathan. Education: Miami University, Oxford, OH, B.A., 1967; Harvard University, M.A., 1968, Ph. D., 1972. Religion: Jewish.

ADDRESSES: Office—Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, 10 G St. NE, Ste. 400, Washington, DC 20002.

CAREER: Political scientist, educator, pollster, consultant, and writer. U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity, Washington, DC, project assistant, 1965; legislative assistant to Lee Hamilton, congressman, 1966; Barss, Re-itzel & Associates, Cambridge, MA, project director, 1967–70; Yale University, New Haven, CT, assistant professor of political science, beginning 1971; Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, Washington, DC, founder, chair, and CEO, 1980–; Democratic Leadership Council, Washington, DC, principal polling advisor, 1988–94. Work-related activities include "People on War" project, International Committee of the Red Cross, director for one year; National Resource Defense Council Climate Center, strategic consultant for campaign on global warming; Democracy Corps, cofounder; University of the Witwatersrand, visiting lecturer, 1973–74; also director of field operations for the New Haven, CT, McGovern Campaign, c. 1972.

MEMBER: American Political Science Association.

WRITINGS:

Politics and Poverty: Modernization and Response in Five Poor Neighborhoods, Wiley (New York, NY), 1974.

Race and State in Capitalist Development: Comparative Perspectives, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 1980, also published as Race and State in Capitalist Development: South Africa in Comparative Perspective, Raven Press (Johannesburg, South Africa), 1980.

Legitimating the Illegitimate: State, Markets, and Resistance in South Africa, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1987.

Middle Class Dreams: The Politics and Power of the New American Majority, Times Books (New York, NY), 1995, revised and updated edition, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 1996.

(Editor, with Theda Skocpol) The New Majority: Toward a Popular Progressive Politics, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 1997.

The Two Americas: Our Current Political Deadlock and How to Break It, Thomas Dunne Books (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Political scientist, pollster, and consultant Stanley B. Greenberg has written several books focusing on the American political scene. In Middle Class Dreams: The Politics and Power of the New American Majority, he takes a look at the political atmosphere in the United States in the mid-1990s and states his belief that both the Democrats and the Republicans have left the middle class with a feeling of betrayal. The author lays out his prescription for reform in government and proposes the creation of new social contracts, such as universal health insurance programs. John Hood, writing in Reason, noted that Greenberg "tries to explain American political history as a struggle between two pitches for middle-class voters: the 'top-down' message of Republicans that serving the interests of big business could spread prosperity throughout society and the 'bottom-up' message of Democrats that government should be on the side of 'the working man.'" New Republic contributor Nicholas Lemann commented: "What makes his book interesting, in part, is knowing that you're seeing some of the concealed endoskeleton of the presidency."

Greenberg also served as editor with Theda Skocpol of The New Majority: Toward a Popular Progressive Politics. The book presents various discussions about progressive politics and how the Democratic Party can use such politics to help shape the national debate. "The theme is developed in an opening chapter by Skocpol and Greenberg and then in thirteen individual pieces, each of which examines a different aspect of the political agenda suggested," explained L. Sandy Maisel in the American Political Science Review. Maisel went on to note that the book's various sections look at issues such as "developing a new social contract between citizens and the government" and "how people can be brought back into the political process. Quite an impressive undertaking!" Atlantic Monthly contributor Nicholas Lemann wrote: "There is enough coherence here to make it worthwhile to wonder whether Greenberg, Skocpol, and their coauthors are onto a potentially winning new political formula."

In his 2004 book The Two Americas: Our Current Political Deadlock and How to Break It, Greenberg outlines his views on how the two major political parties in America, the Democrats and the Republicans, have negated each other, leaving neither one able to maintain a clear preference with public opinion or votes. He examines the increasing polarization in American politics and provides a historical look at how the present state of politics came about since the 1950s. Writing in the Library Journal, Michael A. Genovese called the book "ambitious" and added that it "should make significant impact on the way we view politics in America." A Publishers Weekly contributor noted: "Intricate strategic analysis and close attention to a wavering electorate make this political handbook stand out from the pack."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Political Science Review, June, 1998, L. Sandy Maisel, review of The New Majority: Toward a Popular Progressive Politics, p. 460.

American Prospect, March-April, 1996, Harold Meyer-son, review of Middle Class Dreams: The Politics and Power of the New American Majority, p. 79.

Atlantic Monthly, April, 1998, Nicholas Lemann, review of The New Majority, p. 103.

Campaigns & Elections, April, 2004, Ron Faucheux, review of The Two Americas: Our Current Political Deadlock and How to Break It, p. 44.

Commonweal, November 7, 1997, Alan Wolfe, review of The New Majority, p. 33.

Library Journal, February 1, 2004, Michael A. Genovese, review of The Two Americas, p. 109.

National Review, June 26, 1995, Rich Lowry, review of Middle Class Dreams, p. 66.

New Leader, June 5, 1995, Christopher Clausen, review of Middle Class Dreams, p. 15.

New Republic, March 13, 1995, Nicholas Lemann, review of Middle Class Dreams, p. 31.

Policy Studies Journal, spring, 1997, Paul Gardner, review of Middle Class Dreams, p. 177.

Publishers Weekly, November 7, 1994, review of Middle Class Dreams, p. 58; November 17, 2003, review of The Two Americas, p. 53.

Reason, June, 1995, John Hood, review of Middle Class Dreams, p. 54.

Washington Monthly, January-February, 2004, Ruy Teixeira, review of The Two Americas, p. 50.