Face-to-face , second term, 22,5 hours of theory.

Second term
Friday from 17:00 to 18:30 at 119 Marais 1300

French

The course aims both to familiarise students with the historical sociology of politics basing itself on the study of the sociology classics (notably Max Weber and Norbert Elias) and to develop a more thorough understanding of more contemporary theories dedicated to the analysis of the modern Western state.

For the Bachelor in Political Sciences: General (Evening Programme) :

For the Bachelor in Political Sciences: General (Evening Programme) :

After showing students that political sociology constitutes a certain type of scientific "view", "among other possibilities, on the political object" (Ph. Braud), the course aims to illustrate it from the interdisciplinary and long-term perspective favoured by historical sociology. It will focus on the State, as "modern figure of politics," and will consider it, after alternative approaches, from different aspects according to the major phases of its emergence and development in the West.

General Introduction: political sociology and historical sociology of the State
1/ Political sociology, what view(s), what object(s)?
2/ One approach among others, but particularly integrated; one object among others, but particularly central...

Part I: Defining the State, Mission impossible?
1/ The State: a word, a modern idea and reality
2/ The State as legal entity: the so-called constitutional or classical theory of the three elements or "criteria"
3/ The State as a form of political power: the definition of Max Weber (excerpt); the anthropological comparison, the changes of political power, the systemic approach and State functions

Part II: A historical sociology of the modern Western State
1/ Introduction: the historical sociology of politics
2/ The genesis of the State: sovereignty and centralisation; illustration: Dynamic of the West by Norbert Elias (extract)
3/ The State-nation and democratic citizenship
4/ The question of the totalitarian State (Nazi Germany)

Part III: The State, a form of political power in crisis?
1/ Security, representation, participation: the State in failure of legitimacy?
2/ Sovereignty and post-national identity: new challenges?

General Conclusions and questions & answers

The course consists of a lecture on each of the topics covered in the three parts of the course listed above, lecture mainly based on readings of the classics but also oriented towards the elucidation of current issues. The oral presentation and the support, a synthetic slide presentation, are complemented by the mandatory reading of two short passages considered to be essential references in political sociology, particularly on the subject of the State. Students who wish to further one or another aspect of the course may choose to complete these readings by another text selected in the indicative bibliography or proposed by the student.

The written examination is designed to assess mastery of notions and concepts studied in class. The questions test both the knowledge of the subject matter and the students' ability to make connections between the approaches and the authors considered, to situate them in relation to each other in a synthetic, comparative and critical perspective, allowing the application of the acquired knowledge to the analysis of an issue or problem of contemporary political sociology. The optional reading can be an advantage in the context of the final written evaluation (through the choice of a question)

Manuals:
Philippe Braud, Sociologie politique, Paris, L.G.D.J., rééd. 2004 (en particulier le chapitre 3 : « L'État », p. 121-171).
Dominique Colas, Sociologie politique, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, coll. « Quadrige », n°378, 2002.
Jacques Lagroye, Sociologie politique, Paris, Presses de Sciences Po et Dalloz, rééd. 2002.
Introduction to the historical sociology of politics
Yves Déloye, Sociologie historique du politique, Paris, La Découverte, coll. « Repères », n°209, rééd. 2003 (106 p.).

Defining the State, Mission impossible? (1st part of the course)
Simone Goyard-Fabre, L'État, figure moderne de la politique, Paris, Armand Colin, 1999.
Max Weber, Économie et société (1921), tome 1, trad., Paris, Plon, 1971, rééd. Pocket (en particulier p. 96-100, lecture obligatoire).

A historical sociology of the modern Western State (2nd part of the course)
Norbert Elias, La dynamique de l'Occident (1939), trad., Paris, rééd. Pocket, n°80 (en particulier le chapitre 1er : « La loi du monopole », p. 25-41, lecture obligatoire).
Norbert Elias, The Germans (1989), trad., Cambridge, Polity Press, 1996.
Thomas H. Marshall, Citizenship and Social Class, Chicago, Pluto Press, 1992 (p. 3-51).
Ernest Renan, « Qu'est-ce qu'une nation ? Conférence faite en Sorbonne, le 11 mars 1882 », in Qu'est-ce qu'une nation ?, Paris, rééd. Pocket, 1992, p. 37-56.


Dominique Schnapper, La communauté des citoyens. Sur l'idée moderne de nation, Paris, Gallimard, 1994.

The State, a form of political power in crisis? (3rd part of the course)
Norbert Elias, « Les transformations de l'équilibre ‘nous-je' », in La société des individus, trad., Paris, Fayard, 1991, p. 205-301.
Daniel Gaxie, Le cens caché. Inégalités culturelles et ségrégation politique, Paris, Seuil, 1978.
Jürgen Habermas, Après l'État-nation. Une nouvelle constellation politique, trad., Paris, Fayard, 2000.
Bernard Manin, Principes du gouvernement représentatif, Paris, Flammarion, 1996.

Supports:
Slides, bibliographical references and principal reference texts (books and extracts) are made available to students during lectures or through the class delegate.