Camp, Roderic Ai 1945- (Roderic A. Camp)

PERSONAL:

Born February 19, 1945, in Colfax, WA; son of Ortho O. (in small business) and Helen (a counselor) Camp; married Emily Ellen Morse (a librarian), October 1, 1966; children: Christopher, Alexander. Education: George Washington University, B.A., 1966, M.A., 1967; University of Arizona, Ph.D., 1970. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, sailing.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New Orleans, LA. Office— Government Department, Claremont McKenna College, 850 Columbia Ave., Claremont, CA 91711; fax: 909-621-8419. E-mail—roderic.camp@claremontmckenna.edu.

CAREER:

Political scientist, educator, and writer. Central College, Pella, IA, assistant professor, 1970-75, associate professor, 1975-80, professor of political science, 1980-91, chairman of department, 1973-76, 1980-83, 1985-91, director of study program in Yucatan, Mexico, 1973, chairman of Council on International Programs, 1975-76, director of Latin American studies, 1976-91, assistant to academic dean and director of institutional research, 1978-79, chairman of cross-cultural division, 1984-85, chairman of behavioral science division, 1985-90; Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, professor of Latin American studies and political science, 1991-98; Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA, Philip McKenna Professor of the Pacific Rim, 1998—. Visiting professor at Grand Valley State Colleges (now Grand Valley State University), Allendale, MI, 1974-75; visiting researcher at Centro de Estudios Internacionales, Colegio de Mexico, 1978; professor at University of Arizona's program in Guadalajara, Mexico, summer, 1980, visiting professor at university, spring, 1981. Scholar in residence, Center for the Study of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Service Institute, Washington, DC, 1983; visiting scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 1984. Also senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC, 1998—; Advisory Board member, Profmex Web Journal, University of California, Los Angeles, 2000—; member of Research Committee on Elites, International Studies Association, 2002—, Advisory Board member of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, 2002—. Military service: U.S. Marine Corps, 1970; became sergeant.

MEMBER:

Latin American Studies Association, American Historical Association (Conference on Latin America), American Political Science Association, Midwest Association of Latin American Studies, Midwest Political Science Association (member of executive council, 1978-81), Rocky Mountain Council of Latin American Studies, North Central Council of Latin Americanists.

AWARDS, HONORS:

U.S. State Department scholar, 1971; National Science Foundation grant, 1974-75; American Philosophical Society grants for Mexico, 1974, 1975, 1980; National Endowment for the Humanities fellow, 1977, 1981; Earthwatch fellow in Peru, 1977; Fulbright-Hays grant for Mexico, 1978; grant from National Endowment for the Humanities and Iowa Humanities Board, 1979, 1982; University House fellow at University of Iowa, 1980; Distinguished Professor Award, Central College, 1980-81, 1983-84; Woodrow Wilson fellow, 1984; State Department grant on Mexico, 1984-85; Fulbright-Hays fellow to South America, 1985; Howard Heinz Foundation fellow, 1990-91; National Endowment for the Humanities fellow, 1991; Tinker Mexican Policy Studies fellow, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996; Hewlett Foundation Grant, Latin American Democracy, 1998-2000; Hewlett Foundation Grant, Mexican-U.S. Democracy, 2000-02; Roy P. Crocker Award for Service, Claremont McKenna College, 2005.

WRITINGS:

IN ENGLISH

Latin American Civilization (textbook), Grand Valley State Colleges (Allendale, MI), 1975.

Mexican Political Biographies, 1935-1975, University of Arizona Press (Tucson, AZ), 1976, revised edition, 1981.

The Role of Economists in Policy-Making: A Comparative Study of Mexico and the United States, University of Arizona Press (Tucson, AZ), 1977.

Mexico's Leaders: Their Education and Recruitment, University of Arizona Press (Tucson, AZ), 1980.

The Making of a Government: Political Leaders in Modern Mexico, University of Arizona Press (Tucson, AZ), 1984.

Intellectuals and the State in Twentieth-Century Mexico, University of Texas Press (Austin, TX), 1985.

Mexico's Political Stability, Westview (Boulder, CO), 1986.

Who's Who in Mexico Today, Westview (Boulder, CO), 1988, revised edition, 1993.

Memoirs of a Mexican Politician, University of New Mexico Press (Albuquerque, NM), 1988.

Entrepreneurs and Politics in Twentieth Century Mexico, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1989.

Mexican Political Biographies, 1884-1935, University of Texas Press (Austin, TX), 1991.

Generals in the Palacio: The Military in Modern Mexico, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1992.

Politics in Mexico, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1993, 5th edition published as Politics in Mexico: The Democratic Consolidation, 2007.

Political Recruitment across Two Centuries: Mexico, 1884-1991, University of Texas Press (Austin, TX), 1995.

(Editor) Democracy in Latin America: Patterns and Cycles, SR Books (Wilmington, DE), 1996.

(Editor) Polling for Democracy: Public Opinion and Political Liberalization in Mexico, SR Books (Wilmington, DE), 1996.

Crossing Swords: Politics and Religion in Mexico, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1997.

(Editor) Citizen Views of Democracy in Latin America, University of Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, PA), 2001.

Mexico's Mandarins: Crafting a Power Elite for the Twenty-first Century, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 2002.

Mexico's Military on the Democratic Stage, Praeger (Westport, CT), 2005.

Contributor to numerous books, including Quantitative Latin American Studies: Methods and Findings, Volume 4, edited by James W. Wilkie and Kenneth R. Ruddle, Latin American Center, University of California, Los Angeles, 1977; Statistical Abstract of Latin American Supplement Series, Volume 10, edited by James R. Wilkie and Peter Reich, Latin American Center, University of California, Los Angeles, 1980; Handbook of Latin American Studies, edited by Dolores Martin, University of Texas Press, Volume 45, 1983, Volume 46, 1985, Volume 47, 1989, Volume 49, 1991; Latin America and Caribbean Contemporary Record, edited by Jack W. Hopkins, Holmes & Meier, Volume 2, 1984, Volume 4, 1986, Volume 7, 1990; Proceedings of the Role of the Military in Mexican Politics and Society: A Reassessment, edited by David Ronfeldt, U.S.-Mexican Studies Center, University of California, San Diego, 1984; Mexican Politics in Transition, edited by Judith Gentleman, Westview, 1986; Government and Private Sector in Mexico, edited by Sylvia Maxfield, U.S.- Mexican Studies Center, University of California, San Diego, 1987; Prospects for Mexico, edited by George Grayson, Transaction Books, 1990; Handbook of Political Science and Research on Latin America, edited by David Dent, Greenwood Press, 1990; From Military to Civilian Rule, edited by Constantine Danopoulous, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1992; and Intellectuals in the Twentieth-Century Caribbean, edited by Alistair Hennessy, Macmillan, 1992. Contributing editor, Handbook of Latin American Studies and World Book Encyclopedia. Contributor of more than 150 articles, photographs, and reviews to education and Latin American studies journals. Editorial Board member of Mexican Studies, 1995—, Sociológica, 1995—, and Metrapolitica, 2006—.

IN SPANISH

La Formacion de un Politico: La Socializacion de los Functionarios Publicos en Mexico Post-Revolucionario (title means "The Formation of a Politician: The Socialization of Public Men in Post Revolutionary Mexico"), Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1980.

Los Lideres en Mexico (title means "Mexico's Leaders"), Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1983.

Los Intelectuales y el Estado en Mexico (title means "Intellectuals and the State in Mexico"), Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1988.

Memorias de un Politico Mexicano (title means "Memoirs of a Mexican Politician"), Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1989.

Los Empresarios y la Politica en Mexico (title means "Entrepreneurs and Politics in Mexico"), Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1991.

Biograficos Politicos Mexicanos, 1935-1992 (title means "Mexican Political Biographies, 1935-1992"), 3rd edition, Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1993.

Contributor to Sociologia de la Paz y de la Guerra (title means "The Sociology of Peace and War"), edited by Lucio Mendieta Nunez, 1979; Perspectivas del Sistema Politico Mexicano (title means "Perspectives of the Mexican Political System"), Comite Ejecutivo Nacional del PRI, 1982; and Sucesion Presidencial, edited by Edgar Butler, Westview, 1991.

SIDELIGHTS:

Roderic Ai Camp once told CA: "I am interested in directing scholarly work to a much larger, nonscholarly audience. I have published numerous black-and-white photographs and recently have begun to combine scholarly writing with photography." Camp later added: "I have turned to fiction, writing an autobiography of a Mexican politician, and more recently, a thriller set in 1999, focusing on Mexico and the U.S."

The majority of Camp's books, however, have been academic in nature and have focused on South America and Mexico in terms of politics, the power elite, and the military. In his 1992 book, Generals in the Palacio: The Military in Modern Mexico, the author examines civilian-military relations in Mexico. "The book amounts to the latest … structural analysis of the Mexican military's attitude, nature, structure, role, and image vis-a-vis the civilian sector, as well as the civilian perception of the military," wrote Amos Perlmutter in American Political Science Review. Among the areas that the author focuses on concerning civilian-military relations is the army's civilian origins, the military's professionalism and apparent restraint in political maneuvering as it maintains behind-the-scenes efforts, and the revolutionary environment that has existed in Mexico.

Foreign Affairs contributor Kenneth Maxwell called Camp's Political Recruitment across Two Centuries: Mexico, 1884-1991 "a fascinating work that examines political recruitment practices in Mexico." In Crossing Swords: Politics and Religion in Mexico, Camp examines the role of Catholicism in Mexican society from the 1970s through 1995. According to American Political Science Review contributor Brian H. Smith, the "book focuses on Catholic religious leaders (bishops and priests) and their views on the church's role in the political system." Based on a decade of research conducted by the author, the book includes detailed interviews with many of the clergy and politicians in Mexico and also examines Mexican attitudes toward religion, especially Christianity and Catholicism. The author also writes about the decision-making process of the bishops. "The results provide fascinating, reading, and even the footnotes are full of very interesting comments and anecdotes on key events in church-state relations over the past generation," wrote Smith.

As editor of Citizen Views of Democracy in Latin America, Camp features twelve essays based on surveys of 12,000 people in Chile, Costa Rica, and Mexico concerning their concepts of democracy. Contributors discuss issues such as mass belief systems, cultural explanations for democracy, and economics and partisanship. Each essay is based on the same data set, and they are contributed by political scientists and historians from the United States, Mexico, and Argentina. Kenneth Maxwell, writing in Foreign Affairs, called the book "a major and well-substantiated contribution to the debate about democracy's values and its future in Latin America." Camp also served as editor of an earlier book titled Polling for Democracy: Public Opinion and Political Liberalization in Mexico, which presents essays exploring the importance of survey research in Mexico. "Perhaps the most intriguing discussion in the book concerns the relationship between polling and political liberalisation," wrote Kathleen Bruhn in the Journal of Latin American Studies.

Mexico's Mandarins: Crafting a Power Elite for the Twenty-first Century is based on twenty years of study by the author and provides a detailed and comprehensive examination of Mexico's power elite. Not only does the author examine their political power and society influence, he also looks at the role of mentoring in fostering the powerful elite in Mexico. Overall, the author examines the careers of nearly 400 notable politicians, military officers, intellectuals, clergy, and business tycoons. The author interviewed numerous members of this elite class. Referring to Mexico's Mandarins as "a seminal study," Sheldon Avenius went on to write in Perspectives on Political Science: "Anyone who wants to understand how Mexican leadership selection works must start with Camp. Although scholars … have thoroughly covered Mexican politics, Mexico's Mandarins stands alone as an investigation and explanation of the mentoring process that lies at its heart." Journal of Latin American Studies contributor George Philip commented: "Overall, Camp has written an excellent work that will be of interest to students and specialists alike. It is both academically rigorous and a very interesting read."

In his 2005 book, Mexico's Military on the Democratic Stage, Camp uses new data to study the changing and often tense relationship between Mexico's military and political forces over half a century. Placing the relations between the two in a sociological and historical context, the author explores topics such as the politicized officer, civilian missions in redefining civil-military relations, citizen and military views of these relations, higher education for officers, and challenges to civil-military relations in the twenty-first century. Naunihal Singh, writing in Political Science Quarterly, noted: "In multiple ways, this study significantly raises the bar for future research in this field."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Political Science Review, September, 1993, Amos Perlmutter, review of Generals in the Palacio: The Military in Modern Mexico, p. 800; December, 1999, Brian H. Smith, review of Crossing Swords: Politics and Religion in Mexico, p. 989.

Foreign Affairs, November-December, 1995, Kenneth Maxwell, review of Political Recruitment across Two Centuries: Mexico, 1884-1991, p. 131; March-April, 2002, Kenneth Maxwell, review of Citizen Views of Democracy in Latin America.

Journal of Latin American Studies, May, 1998, Kathleen Bruhn, review of Polling for Democracy: Public Opinion and Political Liberalization in Mexico, p. 437; February, 2004, George Philip, review of Mexico's Mandarins: Crafting a Power Elite for the Twenty-first Century, p. 179.

Perspectives on Political Science, spring, 2003, Sheldon Avenius, review of Mexico's Mandarins, p. 111.

Political Science Quarterly, fall, 2006, Naunihal Singh, review of Mexico's Military on the Democratic Stage, p. 540.

Reference & Research Book News, February, 2006, review of Mexico's Military on the Democratic Stage.

ONLINE

Claremont McKenna College Web site,http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/ (April 1, 2008), faculty profile of author and author's CV.