Jane Mansbridge


Jane Jebb Mansbridge is an American political scientist. She is the Charles F. Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Mansbridge has made contributions to democratic theory, feminist scholarship, and the empirical study of social movements and direct democracy.
In April 2018, Mansbridge was announced to be the 24th laureate of the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science.

Early life and education

Mansbridge received her B.A. from Wellesley College in 1961, her M.A. in history from Harvard University in 1966, and her Ph.D. in government from Harvard in 1971. Her father was the publisher and writer Ronald Mansbridge.

Career

Mansbridge previously taught at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University.
Mansbridge is particularly known for the distinction between unitary and adversary democracy, and for her concepts of gyroscopic representation, the selection model of representation, and surrogate representation. She is currently working on the necessity for legitimate coercion created by our need for "free use" goods.
Her first husband was Owen De Long. She was married to sociologist Christopher Jencks from 1976 to his death in 2025.

Prizes, awards and honors

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