[3] After a short period preparing to be a Methodist minister, he turned to the social sciences, gaining a PhD at the University of Manchester.
His study Introducing Democracy, 80 Questions and Answers (jointly authored with Professor Kevin Boyle of the University of Essex) was commissioned by UNESCO and published world-wide in many languages.
Closer to home, he joined Democratic Audit at the University of Essex in 1992 where he became associate editor, working closely with Director Stuart Weir.
Beetham devised a methodology for assessing democracy which was pioneered by the Democratic Audit in the UK and was developed for wider use across the world.
[9] Beetham was a major contributor as Associate Director of the UK Democratic Audit, based at the London School of Economics.
He also made substantial contributions in Marxist theories and analyses of fascism, and produced the famous The Legitimation of Power.