Friedrich, Carl J.

Friedrich, Carl J. (Joachim)

(1901–84) political scientist; born in Leipzig, Germany. Educated in Germany, he emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1922 and began his long teaching career at Harvard (1926–71). A prolific writer on comparative political thought, his analyses of totalitarianism and communism were particularly controversial. His book, An Introduction to Political Theory (1967), concluded that people favor a minimum rather than a maximum of freedoms. He served as a government adviser to Germany (1946–49), and to Puerto Rico (1950s).