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• Political Sociology emerged as a discipline after the Second World War, as a result of the cross-fertilization between Sociology and Political Science
• It studies the impact of society and politics on each other, incorporating elements from both Sociology and Political Science
• Key figures in the development of Political Sociology include Herbert Spencer, Horkheimer, Karl Marx, Hegel, and Pareto, with Max Weber often considered the father of Political Sociology
• Factors leading to the emergence of Political Sociology include:

  • The extension of politics into the social arena
  • The rise of the modern concept of bureaucracy by Weber
  • The distinction between state and society in modern society
  • The distinction between political and social relations
  • Growing dissatisfaction with traditional Political Science
• Political Sociology is defined as the study of the interrelationship between society and polity, examining how society affects the state
• Definitions of Political Sociology:

  • S.M. Lipset: "the study of the interrelationship between society and polity"
  • R.Bendix: "starts with society and examines how it affects the state"
  • Michael Rush and Philip Althoff: "examines the link between social structures and political structures"
  • Giovanni Sartori: "an interdisciplinary hybrid"
  • Robert E. Dowse and John A. Hughes: "the study of political behavior within a sociological perspective framework"
  • A.K.Mukhopadhaya: "studies the impact of society on politics and vice versa"
• Essential features of Political Sociology:

  • Not political science, but a study of political institutions and processes in relation to their social background
  • Concerned with both social and political aspects
  • Aims to resolve the traditional dichotomy between state and society
• Political Sociology is concerned with the dynamic association between the social origin of politics, the structure of political processes, and the effects of politics on society and culture
• It analyzes socio-political factors in economic development, administrative expansion, bureaucratic perspectives on native culture, relationships between bureaucratic officials and political leaders, and the role of citizens in development activities
• Political Sociology studies the characteristics of a multi-group society and factors contributing to the increasing interdependence between polity and society in mass industrial societies
• The subject matter of Political Sociology includes political structures, political life, political leadership, and political development
• It focuses on social stratification, political power, socio-economic systems, political regimes, interest groups, political parties, political socialization, electoral behavior, political mobilization, and social movements
• Contemporary political sociology is concerned with cultural politics, social cleavages, protest movements, surveillance, state-economy relations, and the welfare state
• The relationship between the political system and society involves the study of government in its empirical dimensions and forms an interdisciplinary standpoint
• The political system is defined as a set of interactions through which authoritative values are allocated for a society
• Characteristics of political systems include universality, multi-functionality, and a culturally mixed character
• The political system operates within a social environment, and social factors must be considered to solve political problems
• Max Weber is considered the founding father of political sociology
• Weber's sociological interest in authority structures was motivated by his political interests
• Weber was critical of modern capitalism but did not advocate revolution; he preferred gradual change
• Weber defined domination as the probability that specific commands will be obeyed by a group of persons
• Weber explained three forms of authority:

  • Traditional Authority: based on age-old rules and powers, with loyalty determining relations
  • Charismatic Authority: power legitimized by personal abilities inspiring devotion and obedience
  • Rational-Legal Authority: power legitimized by legally enacted rules and regulations
• Charismatic authority can be transformed into traditional and bureaucratic authority through routinization
• Rational-Legal authority is power legitimized by legally enacted rules and regulations, common in modern societies
• Bureaucracy, according to Weber, is the purest form of exercise of legal authority
• Weber's analysis includes class, status, and party as the three predominant elements in the stratification of modern society
• Weber views parties as structures struggling for domination, representing class or status groups, oriented towards the attainment of power
• Parties are groups concerned with influencing politics and making decisions in the interests of their membership
• Parties include mass political parties, pressure groups, and interest groups like professional associations and trade unions
• Modern parties alter the class structure of society by absorbing elements of the class struggle in their representation of social groups
• The interplay of class, status, and party in the formation of social groups is complex and diverse, examined separately in a given context
• Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian engineer, economist, scientist, sociologist, and philosopher
• Pareto applied mathematical tools for economic analyses and developed influential theories on ruling elites and political behavior
• Pareto believed that human actions are largely guided by non-logical and non-rational actions
• Pareto identified six types of residues that influence elite actions, such as the residue of combination, persistence, expressiveness, sociability, integrity, and sex
• Pareto introduced the concept of elites, distinguishing between governing and non-governing elites
• Pareto's theory of the circulation of elites explains how elites decay in quality and are eventually replaced by another elite group
• Pareto saw modern democracies as another form of elite domination, dismissing them as more progressive systems of government
• C. Wright Mills was a mid-century sociologist known for his critiques of contemporary power structures and his focus on social inequality
• Mills coined the term "power elite," arguing that a small upper class holds most of society's wealth, prestige, and power