I created this web page in order to assist those who desire to learn more about the late Edward C. Banfield. Here you will find biographical information, bibliographies, copies of his writings (when available and legally reproducible), recordings of Professor Banfield, and links to other online sources. If you would like to suggest or contribute materials, please contact me at kevinrkosar[at]gmail[dot]com.

Brief Biography

Edward Christie Banfield was born in Bloomfield, Connecticut on November 19, 1916. He married Laura Fasano in 1938, who helped him produce the renown book, The Moral Basis of a Backward Society (1958). Banfield died in East Montpelier, Vermont on September 30, 1999. (Mrs. Banfield died in New York City on August 20, 2006.) Banfield worked for the Farm Security Administration during the New Deal before entering the University of Chicago, where he earned his Ph.D in political science. He taught at there and at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. He served as an advisor to President Richard M. Nixon and authored numerous studies on poverty, urban planning, policy, and politics, and American governance generally. Banfield’s scholarship drew upon many sources, including his employment as a journalist and government employee, and his readings in philosophy, history, sociology, and economics. Written in clear and often blunt prose, Banfield’s works attracted attention both within and without academia and, sadly, often elicited intemperate responses and personal attacks. Though many years have passed since they were first written, Banfield's books remain insightful and intellectually provocative.

Edward C. Banfield, Government Project (Glencoe, IL: The Free Press, 1951). A PDF copy may be downloaded freely here.

Edward C. Banfield (with Martin Meyerson), Politics, Planning, and the Public Interest (Glencoe, IL: The Free Press, 1955). A PDF copy may be freely downloaded here.

Edward C. Banfield (with Laura Fasano), The Moral Basis of a Backward Society (Glencoe, IL: The Free Press, 1958). A PDF copy may be downloaded freely here.

Edward C. Banfield (with Morton M. Grodzins), Government and Housing in Metropolitan Areas (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1958). A PDF may be downloaded freely here.

Edward C. Banfield and Martha Derthick, eds., A Report on the Politics of Boston (Cambridge, MA: Joint Center for Urban Studies of the Massachusetts Instiute of Technology and Harvard University, 1960).

Edward C. Banfield, Political Influence (New York: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1961/1982). A reprint with a new introduction by James Q. Wilson was published in 2003. A PDF copy may be downloaded freely here.

Edward C. Banfield, ed., Urban Government: A Reader in Politics and Administration (New York: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1961). A revised edition was published in 1969, and a PDF copy of the portions of the book authored or coauthored by Banfield may be downloaded freely here.

Edward C. Banfield (with James Q. Wilson), City Politics (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1963). A PDF copy may be downloaded freely here.

Edward C. Banfield, American Foreign Aid Doctrines (Washington: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, January 1963). A PDF copy may be downloaded freely here.

Edward C. Banfield, Big City Politics: A Comparative Guide to the Political Systems of Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, El Paso, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Seattle (New York: Random House, 1965). A PDF copy may be freely downloaded here.

Martin Meyerson and Edward C. Banfield, Boston: The Job Ahead (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1966). A PDF copy may be downloaded freely here.

Edward C. Banfield, The Unheavenly City (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1970).

Edward C. Banfield, The Unheavenly City Revisited: A Revision of the Unheavenly City (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1974). A PDF copy may be downloaded freely here.

Edward C. Banfield, Lectures on the Uses and Limitations of Social Science in Public Policy (1978).

Edward C. Banfield, The Democratic Muse: Visual Arts and the Public Interest (New York: Basic Books, 1984).

Edward C. Banfield, Here the People Rule: Selected Essays, 2^nd ed. (New York: Plenum Press, 1985). A second edition was published by the American Enterprise Institute in 1991.

Edward C. Banfield, ed., Civility and Citizenship in Liberal Democratic Societies (New York: Paragon House, 1992).

Biographies/Obituaries/Rememberances

James Q. Wilson, “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court: A Biography,” Charles R. Kesler, ed., Edward C. Banfield: An Appreciation (Claremont, CA: Henry Salvatori Center for the Study of Individual Freedom in the Modern World, 2002), pp. 31-80.

Richard Bernstein, “Edward C. Banfield: Maverick on Urban Policy Issues,” New York Times, October 8, 1999.

Robert J. Samuelson, “The Gift of a Great Teacher,” Washington Post, October 14, 1999.

Harvard University, “Memorial Minutes: Edward C. Banfield: Faculty of Arts and Sciences,” October 17, 2000.

Senator Daniel Moynihan, “Remarks in the Senate, Congressional Record,” October 18, 1999.

James Q. Wilson, “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” Weekly Standard, October 18, 1999.

Charles R. Kesler, “Edward C. Banfield, R.I.P.,” National Review, November 8, 1999.

“Edward C. Banfield, 1916-1999,” Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, Autumn 1999.

James Neuechterlein, “The Unheavenly Urban Philosopher,” First Things, 1999.

James Q. Wilson, “The Independent Mind of Edward C. Banfield,” Public Interest, January 1, 2003.

In late 1977, Stephen Smith, a journalist, interviewed Edward C. Banfield and many persons who knew him, for an article intended for Esquire magazine. Smith kindly gave the tapes of his interviews to the Banfield family. Below are selections from these tapes. These audio files (MP3 format) are quite large and require a high speed Internet connection to access them.

Recording #1 (32+ minutes/35 megabytes): With the family dog, Sashi, at his side, ECB speaks of his farm, his childhood, neighbors, early employment, how he ended up attending U Chicago and studying planning and cities, Rexford G. Tugwell, Martin Meyerson, James Q. Wilson, and his first books.

Recording #27 (22+ minutes; 18 megabytes): Topics include Harvard colleagues, problems America may face (hedonism, loss of virtue, nihilism), liberalism as theory and policy, human nature, "Policy Science as Metaphysical Madness," free markets, his desire to research new topics, his regrets, and U Penn and Bonnie Bluestein (a student who disrupted his classes at both Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania).

Charles R. Kesler, ed., Edward C. Banfield: An Appreciation (Claremont, CA: Henry Salvatori Center for the Study of Individual Freedom in the Modern World, 2002).

Edward C. Banfield Collection, City Planning and Landscape Architecture Collection, University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana. Repository of Edward C. Banfield, ed., Reports on American Cities, (Center for Urban Studies at MIT and Harvard: 1960-1963).

Anthony G. White, Edward C. Banfield: Bibliography of a Conservative Urbanologist (Monticello, Ill.: Council of Planning Librarians, 1975)

“Bibliography,” in Charles R. Kesler, ed., Edward C. Banfield: An Appreciation (Claremont, CA: Henry Salvatori Center for the Study of Individual Freedom in the Modern World, 2002), pp. 123-136.

Miscellaneous Online Materials

Fiction

“Growing Problem,” (Chicago, IL: American Foundation for Continuing Education, 1959).

“The Case of the Blighted City,” (Chicago, IL: American Foundation for Continuing Education, 1959).

Non-Fiction

“The City and the Revolutionary Tradition,” (Washington: American Enterprise Institute, 1974), speech delivered, April 11, 1974.

“Policy Science as Metaphysical Madness,” in Robert C. Goldwin, ed., Statesmanship and Bureaucracy (Washington: American Enterprise Institute, 1977), pp. 1-35.

“The Zoning of Enterprise,” Cato Journal, vol. 2, no. 2, Aut. 1982, pp. 339-349.

“The Pursuit of Happiness: Then and Now: A Conversation with Edward Banfield, Allan Bloom, and Charles Murray,” Public Opinion, May/June 1988, pp. 41-44.

The AEI-Christopher Demuth-Edward C. Banfield Connection

Banfield-isms

“Those who cannot learn cannot be taught; those who can learn don't need to be taught.”

“If you don't want people to find out about something, don't do it.”

“Social scientists should never try to predict the future; they have trouble enough predicting the past.”