Structure of Lessons:
1. Sociology of politics versus political sociology.
2. Forms of social organization of power. Tribes, chieftains, states.
3. The emergence of early states.
4. Patrimonial and feudal political systems.
5. The development of feudalism according to Perry Anderson.
6. Oriental political systems, oriental despotism, the Asian way of production.
7. Imperial systems, Eisenstadt’s theory of historical-bureaucratic empires.
8. Absolutism and absolutist systems.
9. Elias’ theory of royal monopoly.
10. The political sociology of Barrington Moore Jr.
11. Theory of elite: Pareto, Mosca.
12. Theory of political fission: Lipset, Rokkan.
13. Theory of political parties: Weber, Michels, Ostrogorski
Poslední úprava: Baláž Picková Monika, Mgr. (27.02.2026)
1. Pre-state forms of politics: Bands, Tribes, Chiefdoms (simple chiefdom, complex chiefdom)
2. Early state: Theories of early state origin:
a. Internal Conflict theories
b. External conflict theories
c. Population pressure, irrigation
d. The leadership theories
e. Systems theories
3. Cases of early state origin (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Mesoamerica, Peru),
4. Oriental despotism, hydraulic theory, China and India
5. Patrimonialism by Max Weber
a. Gerontocracy and primary patriarchalism
b. Pure patrimonialism
c. examples: Ancient Egypt, Persian empire, Merovingian empire,
d. Eisenstadt’s concept of patrimonialism
6. Feudalism by Max Weber
a. Difference between the fief and the beneficium
b. Contractual nature of the relationship between the senior and the vassal.
c. centralized feudalism introduced by the Normans
d. Andreski comment of feudalism.
7. Politics in Islamic world, military slavery
8. The polity of estates (Ständestaat) and the Absolutist state
9. Framework for early modern state building by Fukuyama
i. Weak absolutism
ii. Successful absolutism
iii. Failed oligarchy
iv. Accountable government
10. Development of Parliaments.
a. Difference between French and English Parliament
b. Patterns of the developments of the parliaments:
1. Relatively long and continuous development
2. Discontinuous development
3. Late adoption of parliamentary forms
11. Theories of the modern state
class theory
pluralist theory
elitist theory
Institutional statism
12. Conclusion, discussion
Poslední úprava: Andělová Michaela, Bc. (16.03.2026)
