Max Weber’s writings on the politics of Wilhelmine in Germany and
the Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917 are much less well known
than his contributions to historical and theoretical sociology, yet
they are essential to any overall assessment of his thought.
Drawing on these writings, still mostly untranslated, David Beetham
offers the most comprehensive account available in English of
Weber’s political theory.
The book explores Weber’s central concern with the prospects for
liberal Parliamentarism in authoritarian societies and in an age of
mass politics and bureaucratic organization, and shows how this
concern led him to a revision of democratic theory which is still
influential. It argues that Weber’s analyzis of the class basis of
contemporary politics necessitate a modification in some of the
accepted interpretations of his sociology of modern capitalism. A
special feature of the book is its full treatment of the extensive
German literature on Weber’s political thought.
This second edition contains a substantial new critical
introduction and an expanded bibliography. Otherwise the text of
the widely acclaimed first edition remains unaltered. This is a
book which adds an essential dimension to the understanding of Max
Weber for students of sociology and politics who have previously
only approached his work through his sociological writings.
Table of Content
Introduction to the Second Edition.
1. Max Weber as Political Theorist.
2. Weber as Protagonist of Borgeois Values.
3. The Limits of Bureaucratic Rationality.
4. Parliment and Democracy.
5. Nationalism and the Nation State.
6. Society, Class and State: Germany.
7. Society, Class and State: Russia.
8. Class Society and Plebiscitary Leadership.
9.Social Science and Political Practice.
Bibliography.
Index.
About the author
David Beetham is a Professor of Politics at Leeds University. He is the author of Marxists in Face of Fascism and an expert on modern European social and political theory.
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