ABSTRACT
In this chapter, and the next, we trace Dahl’s intellectual development from the mid-1950s to the beginning of the 1970s. This was the heyday of pluralism in its original form: it was by far the dominant paradigm in political science, both in the United States and in the many countries where this discipline had been strongly influenced by its American wing. In the course of the 1960s, however, pluralism drew more and more criticism. The same fate befell behavioralism, to which it was connected in practice. Although pluralism remained highly significant, it lost its dominant position. Slowly but surely, Dahl and Lindblom were also shifting their stance. Ultimately, they would for the most part return to the social-democratic positions that they had taken at the start of their career. Meanwhile, the popularity that the original pluralism enjoyed outside political science kept growing. That is also a reason why this pluralism could retain its relevance.
