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Fritz W. Scharpf

German political scientist

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 17, 2026
Entity authorityQ108095 ↗
Source-derived summary

Fritz Wilhelm Scharpf (born 12 February 1935 in Schwäbisch Hall) is German political scientist and Emeritus Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies. His areas of interest include; the organisational problems and decision processes in governments at all levels; the political economy of inflation and unemployment; comparative political economy of the welfare state.

In 2000, Scharpf was awarded the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science.

Other awards

2008 Honorary doctorate of the European University Institute in Florence, Italy

2007 Science Prize of the Stifterverband

2007 Lifetime Contribution Award in EU Studies from the European Union Studies Association

2004 Bielefeld Science Award, (with Renate Mayntz)

2004 Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

2003 Honorary Doctorate, Humboldt University Berlin

Publications

Scharpf is an author of several books and his articles have appeared in numerous journals.

In a 1988 scholarly article, Scharpf, Fritz W. (1988). The Joint-Decision Trap. Lessons From German Federalism and European Integration. Public Administration, Vol. 66, No. 2.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Fritz W. Scharpf” as german political scientist. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Fritz, Scharpf and German.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1935, 2000, 2008, 2007—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1935-02-12. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Fritz, Scharpf and German providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Fritz W. Scharpf”, the useful work is to connect “german political scientist” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q108095. VIAF identifies the subject as 22180934. The Library of Congress control number is n50021150. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1935, 2000, 2008 and 2007.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

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  2. Expand the search: follow Fritz W. Scharpf primary sources, Fritz W. Scharpf archive and Fritz research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Fritz W. Scharpf” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.