Joseph Alois Schumpeter (Triesch, February 1883 - Taconic, Connecticut, January 1950) was an Austrian economist and political scientist who profoundly influenced the history of political thought with his democratic theory, which redefined the meaning of democracy. "Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy" is Schumpeter's most famous and debated work, and one of the great classics of the social sciences in the 20th century. First published in 1942, the work is largely non-mathematical compared to neoclassical works, focusing on the unexpected and rapid bursts of growth triggered by innovation and entrepreneurship rather than static models. "Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy" is the third most cited book published before 1950 in the social sciences, behind only Karl Marx's "Das Kapital" and Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations."
