Mary Parker Follett Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Mary Parker Follett (1868–1933) was an American political analyst and social activist in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She formulated her political and social views and theories based on many years of civic engagement and community-based experiences, including her participation in the Women’s Municipal League and her tireless dedication to establishing social centers in the Boston, Massachusetts, area.

Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, to a wealthy Quaker family, Follett had an unhappy childhood. In 1884, she attended Thayer Academy, an academically challenging private school in Boston, and graduated at age sixteen. When she turned seventeen, she applied to and was accepted to enroll in the Society to Encourage Studies at Home to continue her education. After three years of study in the society, she enrolled as a special student at Harvard Annex for Women (Radcliffe College), taking time out to study at Newnham College in Cambridge, England. She eventually returned to Radcliffe, received an AB degree, and graduated with highest honors in June 1898. While a student at Radcliffe, she conducted research on government and published it as The Speaker of the House of Representatives (1896), a well-documented scholarly account of the U.S. Speaker’s political power based on historical and qualitative research methods.

In the early part of the twentieth century, she was involved in social work public service in the Boston area. Shortly later, she was chair of the Women’s Municipal League’s Committee on Extended Use of School Buildings. In 1911, she continued to devote her time and energy to help build a sense of community by helping to establish the East Boston High School Social Center. Her involvement in public service and government affairs continued through her appointment to the Massachusetts Minimum Wage Board and appointment as the vice president of the National Community Center Association in 1917. In 1918 she published The New State, her second book, now considered a classic in democratic political theory.

In the early 1920s, Follett began her work on management and administration in industry and public institutions in earnest. In 1924, she wrote her third book, Creative Experience, which was based on her community experiences on conflict resolution and small-group management. Her last two books, based on her civic and professional work experiences during twenty years in Boston-area neighborhoods, served as the basis for constructing a new model of democracy whereby she sought to empower Boston-area immigrants by making them responsible for their civic duties, thus increasing their level of participation in government affairs. Follett left the United States for London in 1928. Unfortunately, prior to this move abroad, she destroyed most of her personal papers, and she requested that any other papers be destroyed upon her death.

Despite Follett’s major contributions to political science, she is best known for her work on management and organization, which was summarily dismissed in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s, although it remained highly popular in Great Britain. Her work on management resurfaced in the 1960s and today is considered classic management theory.

Bibliography:

Follett, Mary Parker. The New State: Group Organization, the Solution for Popular Government. New York: Longman, Green, 1918.
Tonn, Joan C. Mary Parker Follett: Creating Democracy, Transforming Management. New Haven, Conn.:Yale University Press, 2003.