POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY: ORIGIN, OBJECT OF STUDY, AUTHORS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Political sociology is a discipline that studies the social base of power in the institutional sectors of a society. Therefore, she is dedicated to understanding the different models of social stratification and its consequences in politics.

Specifically, it can be said that political sociology is a social science focused on the analysis of political groups and political leadership. All this starting from the formal and informal organization of the parties and taking into account their relationship with the legal system, with the government bureaucracy and with the electorate in general.

Political sociology studies the functioning of power and its structure within the social sphere. Source: pixabay.com

The author Jorge Hernández, in his text Sociological knowledge and political sociology (2006), establishes that political sociology is based on the premise that, in order to understand the social behavior of human beings, it is necessary to first understand the political universe, which governs and controls all other structures - such as culture and the economy.

Likewise, the author also affirms that political sociology is one of the oldest social sciences, since human beings have been interested in knowing the relationship that exists between power and society since the beginning of social organizations. However, it began to be studied as a discipline from the 19th century.

In addition, it should be added that this science draws on other disciplines such as political science, political philosophy, political anthropology and psychology.

Origin

To understand the origin of political sociology, one must first know the emergence of politics and sociology as isolated sciences, since this allows us to understand the interdisciplinary functioning of this science, which combines political, historical and social knowledge.

Emergence of politics as science

According to the French essayist Georges Mounin, it was Nicholas Machiavelli (1469-1527) who began the study of political science with his work The Prince (1513), since the texts and essays prior to the author's appearance were supported by subjective values ​​and rather, they consisted of moral and scholastic treatises.

However, in 1964 the scholar Marcel Prélot asserted that the orderly and systematic knowledge of the State had its origins in the Greeks, who were in turn the founders of politics. The most prominent of the Greek thinkers was Aristotle (384-322 BC), who was not only the promoter of the scientific approach, but also who ensured that each science has its individual approach.

Consequently, Prélot affirmed that to Aristotle we owe not only the emergence of politics but also the birth of political science and its situation within the other disciplines.

Consequently, it can be concluded that, although Machiavelli established the foundations of what is now known as political science, Aristotle also had a notable influence on the way in which politics and its ramifications have been studied.

Emergence of sociology as a science

In contrast to politics, sociology is a relatively young science; it can be said that it arose with the arrival of the Industrial Revolution and with the approaches of the Enlightenment. However, its birth as a discipline occurred in the 19th century.

Its original name was “social physiology”, thus nicknamed by the French philosopher Henri de Saint-Simon, although later the philosopher Auguste Comte renamed it as sociology. Similarly, the first time that Auguste Comte used the word sociology was in his text Course in Positive Philosophy (1838).

Some authors affirm that sociology is the result of the processes of modernization and urbanization, since these promoted the birth of the modern nation-state together with its component institutions.

Later, political sociology emerged, which consists of an interdisciplinary science where sociology and political science come together. In addition, political sociology is also linked to comparative history, because it allows you to analyze government systems and economic organizations of societies.

Object of study

Political sociology has as its main object of study power in a social context, assuming that power is the ability of an individual or a group to maintain a line of action and implement a set of decisions. In some cases, this course of action may go against the interests or aspirations of other individuals or groups.

Likewise, the objective of political sociology is to study power generally from the level of a democratic community, although cases may arise where democratic inclinations are attacked.

Similarly, this discipline defines power as a tool whose function lies in guiding societies through a coherent flow of decisions, which seek to produce or maintain a certain order.

Concepts

Public Power

It is one of the concepts most used by this science. The term "Public Power or Powers" is used by the discipline to designate a set of powers belonging to the State.

Therefore, the word power refers to the faculty not only to command, but also to be obeyed; while the word public is associated with the activities of the State.

Modern state

Political sociology frequently uses the concept of the modern State, which consists of a form of government that emerged between the 15th and 16th centuries and is characterized by being organized, structured and formal; This form of State is still in force today, despite having certain variants.

Political spectrum

The political spectrum is a form of visual ordering of political groups, taking into account certain conceptual axes. Likewise, this arrangement is conditioned by social and historical situations and by the party system that governs a community. There are several political spectra and the best known axis is the left-right axis.

Political specters are visual forms of organization that employ a conceptual axis. Source: Anonymus

Featured Authors

Robert Alan Dahl (1915-2014)

He was one of the most prominent contemporary political scientists. His most important work, as well as the most controversial, was Democracy and its Criticisms (1989), where the author clarified his perspective on democracy. According to Dahl, no country currently fully achieves democratic ideals, as it views democracy as a theoretical utopia.

Theda Skocpol (1947)

She is an American political scientist and sociologist, known worldwide for defending historical-comparative approaches. Her most famous work is States and Social Revolutions (1979), where she argues that social revolutions are fundamental metamorphoses within government and state structures.

References

1. Benedicto, J. (1995) Society and politics. Political sociology topics. Retrieved on October 22 from Semanticsholar: pdfs.semanticsholar.org
2. Hernández, J. (2006) Sociological knowledge and political sociology. Retrieved on October 22, 2019 from Node: Node50.org
3. Janowitz, M. (1966) Political Sociology. Retrieved on October 22, 2019 from Dialnet: Dialnet.unirioja.es
4. Nash, K. (2009) Contemporary political sociology: globalization, politics and power. Retrieved on October 22, 2019 from Google books: books.google.com
5. SA (sf) Political Sociology. Retrieved on October 22, 2019 from Wikipedia: es.wikipedia.org
6. Sartori, G. (1969) From the sociology of politics to political sociology. Retrieved on October 22, 2019 from Cambridge: Cambridge.org
7. Saunders, P. (2012) Urban politics: a sociological interpretation. Retrieved on October 22, 2019 from Taylor Francis content: content.taylorfrancis.com