Political sociology is the study of power and the intersection of personality, social structure and politics. Political sociology is interdisciplinary, where political science and sociology intersect. The disipline uses comparitive history to analysis systems of government and economic organisation to understand the political climate of societies. By comparing and analysing history and sociological data, political trends and patterns emerge. The founders of political sociology were Max Weber (Germany) and Moisey Ostrogorsky (Russia). Politics is the process by which groups make decisions. ... Political science is the field of the social sciences concerning the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. ... Social interactions and their consequences are the subject of sociology. ... Maximilian Weber (IPA: ) (April 21, 1864 – June 14, 1920) was a German political economist and sociologist who is considered one of the founders of the modern study of sociology and public administration. ...

There are four main areas of research focus in contemporary political sociology:

1. The socio-political formation of the modern state.
2. "Who rules"? How social inequality between groups (class, race, gender, etc.) influences politics.
3. How public personalities, social movements and trends outside of the formal institutions of political power affects politics, and
4. Power relationships within and between social groups (e.g. families, workplaces, bureaucracy, media, etc).

The field also looks at how major social trends can affect the political process, as well as exploring how various social forces work together to change political policies. Political sociologists apply several theories to substantive issues. Each theory claims to be comprehensive, but actually has a few areas of strength because it was developed to address specific issues and operates at one levels of analysis.

Three major theorical frameworks are pluralism, elite or managerial theory and class analysis which overlaps which Marxist analysis. Pluralism sees politics primarily as a contest among competing interest groups. A leading representative is Robert Dahl. Elite managerial theory is sometimes called a state-centered approach. It explains what the state does by looking at constraints from organizational structure, semiautonomous state managers, and interests that arise from the state as a unique, power concentrating organization. A leading representative is Theda Skocpol. It has been suggested that Pluralistic perspective be merged into this article or section. ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ... Robert A. Dahl (b. ... Theda Skocpol (born May 4, 1947 in Detroit, Michigan) is a sociologist and political scientist at Harvard University, presently serving as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. ...

Social class theory analysis emphasizes the political power of capitalist elites. The theory emerged from Marxism in the 1850's based primarily on the premise economic exploitation of one class by another. It split into two parts: one is the power structure or instrumentalist approach, another is the structuralist approach. The power structure approach focuses on Who Rules? and its most well-known representative is G. William Domhoff. The structuralist approach emphasizes how the very way a capitalist economy operates only allows and encourages the state to do some things but not others. Its best known representative was Nicos Poulantzas. G. William (Bill) Domhoff is a Research Professor in psychology and sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. ... Nicos Poulantzas (1936-1979) was a Greco-French Marxist political sociologist. ...

See also

• Important publications in political sociology
• Political compass