Quick Facts
Biography
Stein Ringen (born July 5, 1945) is a Norwegian sociologist and political scientist. He is Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, and a Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford (formerly Green College, Oxford). Ringen holds a magister degree in political science (a 7-year degree including 3 years of research) from the University of Oslo (1972) and a dr. philos. degree from the University of Oslo (1987).
He has been a Visiting Professor at Université de Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne (1995, 1996), École Normale Supérieure de Cachan (1996-1997), Masaryk University (2003), Charles University (2003), University of the West Indies (2004, 2006) and Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (2006).
He has written several books in Norwegian and English. He is also a regular contributor to Norwegian public debate.
Books
- 2016: The Perfect Dictatorship: China in the 21st Century
- 2013: Nation of Devils: Democratic Leadership and the Problem of Obedience, Yale Univ. Press
- 2009: The Economic Consequences of Mr Brown
- 2007: What Democracy Is For
- 2006: The Possibility of Politics (new edition)
- 2005: Citizens, Families, and Reform (new edition)
- 2004: Norges nye befolkning
- 2000: Veien til det gode liv'
- 1999: Ordet som er (co-author)
- 1998: The Family in Question
- 1997: Reformdemokratiet
- http://www.hkupress.org/Common/Reader/Products/ShowProduct.jsp?Pid=1&Version=0&Cid=16&Charset=iso-8859-1&page=-1&key=9789888208944
- Staff writer, reviewing Nation of Devils: Democratic Leadership and the Problem of Obedience by Stein Ringen, The Economist, Oct 5th 2013, The maturing of democracy -- Picking up the tab -- Democracy has survived many crises. Elected governments should worry less about voting lobbies and more about how to govern well, Accessed Nov 8, 2013, "...About democracy in America, Mr Ringen nears despair. Nothing short of a total overhaul of the constitution will repair the years of accumulated damage and dysfunction, he believes...."