Political Theories and Sociological Concepts

These flashcards encapsulate key vocabulary and concepts from the lecture on political theories and sociological ideas.

Thinkers Elite Theory

A theory proposing that society is divided into the governing elite and the non-elite majority.

Circulation of elites

The concept that elites decay over time and are replaced by new, vigorous groups.

Political Formula

An ideological justification for elite rule that legitimizes authority.

Representative government

A system where elites still dominate, though participation is broadened to prevent tyranny.

Iron Law of Oligarchy

The principle that every large organization inevitably becomes controlled by a small group of leaders.

Megalomaniac Substitution

A phenomenon where leaders equate their own identity with that of the organization.

Political Zionism

A movement arguing that Jews are a distinct nation bound by shared suffering.

Antisemitism

A persistent global phenomenon that strengthens Jewish unity.

Racist Nationalism

A form of nationalism that defines the nation by racial purity.

Führerprinzip

A principle advocating for rule by a single leader embodying the racial mission.

Totalitarianism

A political system where the state holds absolute control over all aspects of life.

Corporatism

A system of organization in which the economy is structured into state-controlled corporations.

Types of authority

According to Weber: Traditional, Charismatic, and Rational-Legal.

Bureaucracy

A system of administration characterized by a hierarchical structure and process orientation.

Politics as Vocation

Weber's distinction between ethics of conviction and ethics of responsibility.

Democracy according to Schumpeter

Defined as competition among elites for votes rather than direct rule by the people.

Creative Destruction

A process where capitalism constantly revolutionizes itself, destroying the old to create the new.

Vanguard Party

A party that leads the revolution and establishes the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Imperialism

The highest stage of capitalism, characterized by global exploitation.

Democratic Centralism

A political system with centralized leadership and limited debate.

Permanent Revolution

Trotsky's argument for continuous and international revolution.

Combined and Uneven Development

A concept stating that backward societies can leap into revolution.

Socialism in One Country

Stalin's focus on consolidating the USSR through a totalitarian party-state.

Reification

The process where human relations take on the appearance of commodities or things.

Totality in Marxism

The idea of understanding society as a unified, dynamic system.

Hegemony

Power maintained through manufactured consent by the ruling class.

Organic Intellectuals

Thinkers from within a specific class that articulate its interests.

Ideological State Apparatus (ISA)

Tools that maintain social order through ideology.

Interpellation

The process where ideology addresses individuals, turning them into subjects.

Society of the Spectacle

Debord's concept that modern life is dominated by images rather than authentic experience.

Postmodernism

The cultural logic of late capitalism characterized by pastiche and historical amnesia.

Cognitive Mapping

An aesthetic project to visualize connections between local lives and global networks.

Dialectic of Enlightenment

A critique of how Enlightenment reason has led to a controlled and dehumanized society.

Culture Industry

The mass media's role in producing standardized culture to pacify the public.

One-Dimensional Man

Marcuse's idea that advanced industrial society produces conformist individuals.

Surplus Repression

The additional psychological repression required by capitalism beyond necessary for civilization.

Escape from Freedom

Fromm's thesis that modern freedom leads to anxiety and a desire for security.

Authoritarian Personality

A character type that seeks security through submission to authority.

Aura in art

The unique quality of a work of art that is lost through mechanical reproduction.

Aestheticization of Politics

The portrayal of violence as beautiful to distract and pacify the masses.

Public Sphere

A space for rational-critical debate that has been transformed into a display of prestige.

Communicative Rationality

A form of rationality based on mutual understanding and persuasive argument.