Political Sociology

Political sociology is the study of the relationship between society and politics. Traditionally political sociologists have focused on such topics as the types of socio-political orders, theories of the state, or political culture. Recent years have seen much attention being devoted to the socio-historical study of a range of issues relating to state power, social stratification, war, violence, political legitimacy, authority, ideology, citizenship, social movements, nationalism, ethnicity and globalization. This course will provide an introduction to both classical and contemporary issues in political sociology. It will review the leading theoretical and historical approaches in the field in a way that illustrates theory with concrete empirical work and historical case studies.