The institutional features and the past and future role of the state should be a central concern of contemporary sociological and political theory, but until now they have been sadly neglected. Lately, in particular, the state's increasing involvement in the management of industrial and industrializing societies has made it even more important to understand its past development, its current activities, and the related trends in its structure and in its relation to the larger society. As a contribution to this task, Gianfranco Poggi reviews the main phases in the institutional history of the modern state. Restating a typology elaborated, among others by Max Weber, he outlines first the feudal system of rule, then the late-medieval Standestaat and the absolutist state. Next the book discusses the nineteenth-century constitutional state, seen as the most accomplished embodiment of the modern, Western state. Finally, it points out the major developments which have occurred since the end of the last century in the relationship between the state and society, and identifies the threat these pose to the persistence of Western political values. Throughout, the discussion draws upon an impressive body of literature on the modern state (much of it not available in English) from the fields of history, law, and the social sciences.

The state is the most massive and significant modern expression of the broader phenomenon of political power. This book offers a fresh, accessible and original interpretation of the modern state, concentrating particularly on the emergence and nature of democracy. Poggi presents an extensive conceptual portrait of the state, distinguishing its early characteristics from those that have developed subsequently and are apparent in contemporary states. He reviews the "historical career" of the state, from the dissolution of feudal forms of rule to the advent of modern, liberal-democratic systems. Poggi also discusses the most significant developments occurring in our times concerning the nature of liberal-democratic regimes: these developments emphasize the growth and diversification of state action, and the resulting disconnection between policy and politics. Poggi considers the distinctive features of one=party systems, and discusses why these systems encountered difficulties in promoting advanced industrial development. The final chapter discusses the challenges set to the state by contemporary developments in military affairs, in the international economy and in the ecological sphere. This book further develops themes introduced in Poggi's highly successful The Development of the Modern State (1978). It will be required reading for students of politics and sociology, but will also be of interest to postgraduates.

The state is the most massive and significant modern expression of the broader phenomenon of political power. This book offers a fresh, accessible and original interpretation of the modern state, concentrating particularly on the emergence and nature of democracy. Poggi presents an extensive conceptual portrait of the state, distinguishing its early characteristics from those that have developed subsequently and are apparent in contemporary states. He reviews the "historical career" of the state, from the dissolution of feudal forms of rule to the advent of modern, liberal-democratic systems. Poggi also discusses the most significant developments occurring in our times concerning the nature of liberal-democratic regimes: these developments emphasize the growth and diversification of state action, and the resulting disconnection between policy and politics. Poggi considers the distinctive features of one=party systems, and discusses why these systems encountered difficulties in promoting advanced industrial development. The final chapter discusses the challenges set to the state by contemporary developments in military affairs, in the international economy and in the ecological sphere. This book further develops themes introduced in Poggi's highly successful The Development of the Modern State (1978). It will be required reading for students of politics and sociology, but will also be of interest to postgraduates.

Modern social thought is largely the intellectual product of a number of "great minds." Revisiting the central theories of Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Simmel, Mead, Parsons, Goffman, Garfinkel, and Luhmann, this text introduces readers to a select group of thinkers who have made significant, distinctive, and controversial contributions to the development of modern social theory.
Offering a careful selection of primary sources that encourage direct engagement with the writings, Poggi and Sciortino emphasize the theoretical insights and problems that remain valuable to discussions of social theory today. Each chapter introduces key ideas, whether classical or contemporary, through a discussion of each theorist's contribution to the exploration of the human actors and the consequences, potentialities, and vulnerabilities embedded in social relationships. "Great Minds" was originally published in Italian. This first-ever English-language edition includes a new final chapter on the work of Luhmann.

Modern social thought is largely the intellectual product of a number of "great minds." Revisiting the central theories of Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Simmel, Mead, Parsons, Goffman, Garfinkel, and Luhmann, this text introduces readers to a select group of thinkers who have made significant, distinctive, and controversial contributions to the development of modern social theory.
Offering a careful selection of primary sources that encourage direct engagement with the writings, Poggi and Sciortino emphasize the theoretical insights and problems that remain valuable to discussions of social theory today. Each chapter introduces key ideas, whether classical or contemporary, through a discussion of each theorist's contribution to the exploration of the human actors and the consequences, potentialities, and vulnerabilities embedded in social relationships. "Great Minds" was originally published in Italian. This first-ever English-language edition includes a new final chapter on the work of Luhmann.

In Phenomena of Power, one of the leading figures of postwar German sociology reflects on the nature, and many forms of, power. For Heinrich Popitz, power is rooted in the human condition and is therefore part of all social relations. Drawing on philosophical anthropology, he identifies the elementary forms of power to provide detailed insight into how individuals gain and perpetuate control over others. Instead of striving for a power-free society, Popitz argues, humanity should try to impose limits on power where possible and establish counterpower where necessary. Phenomena of Power delves into the sociohistorical manifestations of power and breaks through to its general structures. Popitz distinguishes the forms of the enforcement of power as well as of its stabilization and institutionalization, clearly articulating how the mechanisms of power work and how to track them in the social world. Philosophically trained, historically informed, and endowed with keen observation, Popitz uses examples ranging from the way passengers on a ship organize deck chairs to how prisoners of war share property to illustrate his theory. Long influential in German sociology, Phenomena of Power offers a challenging reworking of one of the essential concepts of the social sciences.

In this highly readable and compact introduction to Durkheim's thought, Gianfranco Poggi examines closely all of Durkheim's canonical works and assesses their significance a century after his death. Poggi also considers closely the question, what did Durkheim mean by 'society'?, and assesses Durkheim's contribution to both political sociology and the sociology of law. Poggi's clear and concise reappraisal of one of the most important thinkers of the last one hundred years will be essential reading for all students of sociology and for anyone interested in the way modern society functions.

The management of contemporary public affairs involves many different centres of social power, engaged in complex and mutable relations, ranging from willing cooperation, to competition, to out-and-out conflict. This book emphasises the role played in these relations by political institutions in particular. Generally, these claim a special competence to authorise and regulate the activities of other institutions, but their claim is often contested by other power centres, serving different and sometimes contrasting interests. To explore those processes, the author, after identifying the nature of `the political', considers its dealings with other forms of social power. Among these, economic power gets particular attention, in view of the contemporary salience of the `state vs market' issue. But this book also considers the relations between politics at one end, and law, the public sphere, citizenship, and religion at the other.

A major representative of the German sociological tradition, Georg Simmel (1858-1918) has influenced social thinkers ranging from the Chicago School to Walter Benjamin. His magnum opus, "The Philosophy of Money," published in 1900, is nevertheless a difficult book that has daunted many would-be readers. Gianfranco Poggi makes this important work accessible to a broader range of scholars and students, offering a compact and systematically organized presentation of its main arguments.
Simmel's insights about money are as valid today as they were a hundred years ago. Poggi provides a sort of reader's manual to Simmel's work, deepening the reader's understanding of money while at the same time offering a new appreciation of the originality of Simmel's social theory.