J. David Singer Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

(Joel) David Singer (1925–2009) was one of the foremost scholars of world politics of the twentieth century. His creation of the Correlates of War Project was instrumental in shifting the study of international relations from the reliance on historical analyses toward the use of quantitative or scientific research methodologies.

Born in Brooklyn on December 7, 1925, Singer grew up with what he later admitted was a rather romanticized view of war. German anti-Semitism and anti-Japanese propaganda contributed to his decision to enlist in the U.S. Navy on December 7, 1942 (a year after Pearl Harbor). Though he left the service in 1946, he returned for a second tour of duty during the Korean War (1950–1953). Thereafter, he resumed graduate studies at New York University, earning his doctorate in 1956. Singer then began his teaching career with a two-year stint at Vassar College.

At this stage in his career, Singer considered himself to be a “policy wonk, but a public dove.” He focused on deterrence policy, but challenged the prevailing positions concerning nuclear disarmament, as in his testimony before Senator Hubert Humphrey’s subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Relations in 1956. He subsequently spent a yearlong Ford Fellowship at Harvard University, where he met conflict resolution expert Kenneth Boulding, who successfully persuaded Singer to come to the University of Michigan.

In 1959, Singer spent a year at the Naval War College, where he completed Deterrence, Arms Control, and Disarmament, which several publishers rejected due to its dovish stance. Singer then returned to the University of Michigan with positions at the Mental Health Research Institute and later the political science department. Singer’s policy work had convinced him of the need for a more rigorous and scientific study of world politics, and, with the support of Karl Deutsch, he created the Correlates of War Project (COW) in 1963 with the hope of understanding war so that it could be ended and prevented. Singer also continued his activities as a public dove, speaking out against the cold war and the Vietnam War (1959–1975) and becoming involved in the Caucus for a New Political Science, which promoted a more activist and critical role for those in academia.

The Correlates of War Project has become one of the longest-running and most influential research projects in world politics. The project launched a quantitative study of war, and Singer, along with project historian Melvin Small, published two groundbreaking analyses of war: The Wages of War, 1816–1965 in 1972 and Resort to Arms: International and Civil War, 1816–1980 in 1982. The project has continued to expand, gathering data on a number of elements that are related to war, including system membership, capabilities, alliances, diplomatic ties, intergovernmental organizations, and conflict short of war (militarized interstate disputes). Its impact is seen not only in the numerous books and articles that Singer published individually and with COW colleagues, but also in the plethora of other data-gathering projects that COW has spawned. In recognition of his contributions, Singer was elected president of the Peace Research Society (International) and president of the International Studies Association.

Bibliography:

Geller, Daniel S., and J. David Singer. Nations at War: A Scientific Study of International Conflict. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Singer, J. David, ed. The Correlates of War I: Research Origins and Rationale. New York: Free Press, 1979.
The Correlates of War II: Testing Some Realpolitik Models. New York: Free Press, 1980.
Deterrence, Arms Control, and Disarmament: Toward a Synthesis in National Security Policy, 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1984.
Quantitative International Politics: Insights and Evidence. New York: Free Press, 1968.
Singer, J. David, and Paul F. Diehl, eds. Measuring the Correlates of War. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1991.
Singer, J. David, and Melvin Small. The Wages of War, 1816–1965: A Statistical Handbook. New York:Wiley, 1972.
Singer, J. David, and Richard Stoll, eds. Quantitative Indicators in World Politics: Timely Assurance and Early Warning. New York: Praeger, 1984.
Small, Melvin, and J. David Singer. Resort to Arms: International and Civil War, 1816–1980. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage, 1982.
International War: An Anthology, 2nd ed. Homewood, Ill.: Dorsey, 1988.

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