Bassett, Reginald, 1901-1962, Professor of Political Science

Reginald Bassett was born in 1901. On leaving school he entered a solicitor's office, but at the age of twenty five he took up a scholarship at Ruskin College, Oxford and later at New College, Oxford. For fifteen years he was a lecturer under the Extra-Mural Studies Delegacy of the University of Oxford, working mainly in Sussex. When the London School of Economics started a course for students from trade unions in 1945, Bassett was appointed as a tutor. He was a tutor in trade union studies 1945-1950, lecturer in Political Science 1950-1953, Reader in Political Science 1953-1961, and Professor of Political Science from 1961 until his death in 1962. Bassett's main interests were politics and parliamentary government. He joined the Independent Labour Party at an early age and was an active member for many years. However by 1931 he had become a MacDonaldite and ceased to be a member of a political party. His first book The Essentials of Parliamentary Democracy (1935) discussed the conduct of parliamentary government, and he remained convinced that this was the best political system. His other works are Democracy and Foreign Policy (1952) and Nineteen Thirty-one: Political Crisis (1958).