Lucian Pye

Lucian W. Pye (Chinese: 白魯恂; pinyin: Bái Lǔxún; October 21, 1921 – September 5, 2008) was an American political scientist, sinologist and comparative politics expert.

Pye focused on the characteristics of specific cultures in forming theories of political development of modernization of Third World nations, rather than seeking universal and overarching theories like most political scientists. As a result, he became regarded as one of the foremost contemporary practitioners and proponents of the concept of political culture and political psychology. Pye was a teacher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 35 years and served on several Asia-related research and policy organizations. He wrote or edited books and served as advisor to Democratic presidential candidates, including John F. Kennedy. Pye died of pneumonia at age 86.