Politiko-sociological direction

The policy can be considered in a context of its communication with the social phenomena and processes. German sociologist Max Veber (1864-1920) in work «Protestant ethics and spirit of capitalism» focused attention on социокультурных factors of political development. It has formulated the approach within the limits of "understanding" sociology.

M.Veber did not trust in possibility of knowledge of laws of social and political development, did not search for universal laws of social life. In its opinion, natural processes are out of the person, and consequently they object of its knowledge. Social passes through the person and consequently opens as private world of the person. If for natural sciences there is enough supervision for social sciences it is required большее - comprehension.

Concepts of a science are conditional, deprived of the objective maintenance, ideal types which are created by consciousness for convenience of ordering of the irrational validity.

Having learnt prevailing ideas of each epoch, it is possible to explain essence and appointment of existing political institutes. So, liberal democracy inseparably linked with Protestant ethics, culture of a consensus, spirit of individualism.

Max Veber has paid attention on amplifying бюрократизацию of public life in lawful states of XX century In its opinion, it should lead to the possible conflict between bureaucracy and democracy. One of the first he has noted paradox of democratisation: result of involving of weights in sociopolitical life is occurrence of a considerable quantity of the organisations which then become destructive for democratic political functioning.

Bureaucracy, on Max Veber, - feature not only the western societies. Egypt of the period of the New kingdom, the Chinese empire. The Roman Catholic church, the European states - all of them had the bureaucracy like that which remains at the largest modern enterprises.

The modern bureaucracy is rational and most effective system of the state organisation as it is based on strict division of duties, professionalism and discipline.

For ideal type of bureaucracy are characteristic:

1) the division of labour caused by rules and laws;

2) submission of subordinate officials by the higher;

3) appointment of employees on the basis of professional qualification, instead of through elections;

Which its supporters attribute outstanding qualities, allocate with charisma (that in transfer with греч. Means «divine gift, good fortune»). A version of charismatic type of legitimacy, on M.Veber, is vozhdistski-plebistsitarnaja legitimacy, characteristic for totalitarian and authoritative modes. In their basis the support on the power of the leader, party, army lies.

The legally-rational or liberally-democratic type of legitimacy is based on free волеизлиянии citizens, selectivity of all central authorities by the people, belief in justice of elections and a recognition of their results.

Elitologichesky direction

Элитология - the branch of a political science which studies an origin of elite, laws of their functioning, considers the state and the power in a context of political stratification, i.e. inevitability of division of a society on correcting and operated.

The greatest development it is a direction has reached within the limits of the Italian school of political sociology.

One of founders элитологии is the Italian sociologist Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923). He has stated the concept in three-volume «the Treatise on the general sociology» (1916).

The main thing in the sociological concept of Pareto - a sight at a society as on the system which is in a condition of mobile balance as a result of interaction of set of various elements, major of which - the so-called rests (residui) and the derivations derivative (derivazioni).

"Rests" at Pareto are feelings, passion, the instincts determining social behaviour of the person; "derivations" - ideologies, beliefs, various forms of a pseudo-logic explanation of not logic actions of individuals caused by psychophysical features.

"Rests" I and II classes (all Pareto allocates six classes) star in definition of social behaviour of the person. "Rests" Iкласса he named an instinct of combinations, "rests" of II class - a constancy of units. Their antagonism (as instincts of changes and conservatism) Pareto explained a course of world history.

"Rests" in the concept of Pareto underlie division of a society into elite and неэлиту.

The definition of elite accepted in world political science belongs to Pareto.

From the point of view of Pareto, in any society the elite which represents an assorted part of the population and to which other part adapting «to the stimulus received from it» resists always corrects.