Giovanni Sartori ( Giovanni Sartori is a well-known Italian scholar of political science. During his academic career, Sartori is known for his research on democratic politics, and he has made significant achievements in the fields of democracy and party theory.

Sartori was born in Florence in 1924 and graduated from Florence in 1945. He graduated from the University of Florence in 1945 and stayed on to teach there, becoming professor of sociology and political science in 1963 and 1966 respectively. 1964 saw Sartori go to the United States to become a visiting professor at Harvard University, and in 1976 he became a professor at Stanford University, then from 1979 to 1994 he held the Columbia University Chair of History and Philosophy, and after his retirement was appointed professor emeritus. In addition to being a scholar, Sartori was a columnist for the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. He has also been involved in social movements, participating in the organization of the "Liberty and Justice League" against the then Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in 2002.

In his 1987 masterpiece, A New Theory of Democracy, Sartori clearly articulated his theoretical analysis of "elite democracy" stating that "modern democracy can only be a 'ruled democracy'. In 1998, New Theory of Democracy was translated into Chinese and published by scholars Feng Keli and Yan Kewen. Once published, the book resonated widely in the intellectual community and was reprinted several times.

On April 4, 2017, Sartori died of respiratory complications at the age of 92.