Modernization and Its Political Consequences : Weber, Mannheim, and Schumpeter

, by Hans Blokland; Translated by Nancy Smyth Van Weesep

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ISBN: 9780300110814 | 0300110812
Cover: Trade Book
Copyright: 11/15/2006

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People's capacity to give meaning and direction to social life is an essential dimension of political freedom. Yet many citizens of Western democracies believe that this freedom has become quite restricted. They feel they are at the mercy of anonymous structures and processes over which they have little control, structures and processes that present them with options and realities they might not have chosen if they had any real choice. As a result, political interest declines and political cynicism flourishes. The underlying cause of the powerlessness pervading the current political system could be modernization. Taking the work of Max Weber, Karl Mannheim, and Joseph Schumpeter as a point of departure, Hans Blokland here examines this process. The topics covered are, among others, the meaning of modernization, the forces that drive it, and, especially, the consequences of modernization for the political freedom of citizens to influence the course of their society via democratic politics.

Preface,

Chapter One. General Introduction

1 Modernization,

(5)

1.1 Emergence of Instrumental Rationality,

(2)

1.2 Differentiation and Individualization: Deterrents to Political Action,

(3)

2 Pluralism, Polyarchy, and Incrementalism,

(2)

3 Doubts about Incrementalism and Polyarchy in Political Science,

(3)

4 Political Endorsement of Polyarchy and Incrementalism,

(3)

5 Questions,

(2)

Chapter Two. Max Weber

(44)

1 Personal and Intellectual Background,

(4)

2 Weber's Philosophy of Science,

(6)

2.1 The Difference between the Natural and the Human Sciences,

(2)

2.2 The Endless Growth of Knowledge and the Disenchantment of Our Worldview,

(1)

2.3 Science and Normative Questions, and What Science Can Actually Do,

(3)

3 Capitalism and the Rationalization of Occidental Culture,

(10)

3.1 Forms of Rationality,

(3)

3.2 The Rationalization of More and More Spheres of Life,

(2)

3.3 Ascetic Protestantism as Breeding Ground for Capitalism,

(2)

3.4 The Capitalist Ethic in Capitalism's Iron Cage,

(2)

4 Bureaucracy and Bureaucratization,

(7)

4.1 Description of Bureaucracy and the Bureaucrat,

(2)

4.2 The Driving Forces behind Bureaucratization,

(4)

4.3 The Endless Persistence of an Established Bureaucracy,

(1)

5 Democracy in Modern Society,

(10)

5.1 The Bureaucratization of the Political Party,

(2)

5.2 Leadership, Demagoguery, and "Public Opinion,"

(2)

5.3 The Functions of Parliament,

(2)

5.4 The Charismatic Leader as Counterweight to Bureaucratization,

(2)

5.5 The "Verantwortungsethik" of the True Politician,

(1)

6 Preliminary Assessment,

(6)

Chapter Three. Karl Mannheim

(53)

1 Personal and Intellectual Background,

(3)

2 The Reception of Mannheim,

(2)

3 Science and Society,

(12)

3.1 The Sociology of Knowledge,

(2)

3.2 Relativism or Relationism,

(1)

3.3 Sozial Freischwebende Intelligenz and the Possibilities for a Political Science,

(4)

3.4 Qualitative Research and Interdisciplinarity,

(2)

3.5 The Elites: Their Lack of Social Engagement and Their Decline,

(2)

4 Some Fundamental Assumptions and Concepts of the Sociology of Planning,

(10)

4.1 The Unbalanced Growth and Social Distribution of Moral and Technical Capacity,

(2)

4.2 Substantial and Functional Rationality and Morality,

(2)

4.3 The Awareness of the Need for Planning,

(4)

4.4 The Planning of Personalities and the End of History,

(2)

5 Planning for Freedom,

(14)

5.1 Our Ambivalent Attitude toward Planning and the Functionalistic Manner of Thinking,

(1)

5.2 Concentration of Power through Application of Social Techniques,

(1)

5.3 The Creation of Indispensable Social Consensus with Social Techniques,

(1)

5.4 Some Techniques of Social Control,

(3)

5.5 The Pros and Cons of Various Possible Techniques of Control,

(2)

5.6 Controlling the Planners by Way of Parliamentary Democracy,

(1)

5.7 Is Planning Possible in a Divided Pluriform Democracy?,

(2)

5.8 Planning Means More Technical and Less Political Decision-Making,

(1)

5.9 Planning Makes a Higher Collective Form of Freedom Possible,

100

(2)

6 Mannheim's Diagnosis of Our Ethical Situation,

102

(7)

6.1 The Complete Absence of Social Consensus on Values and the Causes Thereof,

102

(4)

6.2 The Third Way in the Ethical Field: A Militant Democracy,

106

(1)

6.3 Religion and the Substance of a Shared, Unifying Goal,

107

(2)

7 Preliminary Assessment,

109

(5)

Chapter Four. Joseph Schumpeter

114

(69)

1 Personal Background,

116

(3)

2 Standpoints on Science, Economics, and History,

119

(6)

2.1 Positivism, Historicism, and General Social Science,

119

(2)

2.2 Economic Thought,

121

(2)

2.3 Marx and the Economic Interpretation of History,

123

(1)

2.4 Schumpeter's Definition of Conservatism,

124

(1)

3 The Decline of Capitalism,

125

(16)

3.1 Capitalism Is a Great Economic Success,

126

(1)

3.2 The Economic Success of Capitalism Is No Coincidence,

127

(1)

3.3 The Process of Creative Destruction Is the Engine of Economic Progress,

128

(1)

3.4 Monopolistic Practices Are Often Beneficial to the Economy,

129

(1)

3.5 The Capitalistic Economy Can Also Keep Growing in the Future,

130

(1)

3.6 Capitalistic Civilization and the Rationalization Process,

131

(3)

3.7 Capitalism Destroys Its Own Institutional Framework,

134

(2)

3.8 Capitalism Makes More and More Enemies,

136

(3)

3.8.1 People Are Unable to Evaluate Capitalism Rationally,

136

(1)

3.8.2 Intellectuals and Their Subversive Activities,

137

(2)

3.9 The Collapse of the Family, the Country Place, and Capitalism,

139

(2)

4 The Socialist Economic System Works,

141

(13)

4.1 The Sound Rationality of a Socialist Economy,

142

(3)

4.2 The Socialist Economic Order Is More Rational Than the Capitalist,

145

(2)

4.3 Socialist Man Need Not Be Either a Genius or a Saint,

147

(2)

4.4 The Gradual but Inevitable Transition to Socialism,

149

(5)

4.4.1 Two Conditions,

150

(1)

4.4.2 The Options for Socialists in a Society That Is Still Capitalist,

151

(3)

5 Socialism and Democracy,

154

(16)

5.1 In Search of a Definition of Democracy,

154

(4)

5.1.1 Democracy Is Not a Value in Itself but a Decision Method,

154

(1)

5.1.2 The Electorate Determines Who Belongs to the Electorate,

155

(1)

5.1.3 A Government by the People Is Already Technically Impossible,

156

(2)

5.2 Criticism of the "Classical" Theory of Democracy,

158

(6)

5.2.1 The Common Good Does Not Exist, nor Does the Will of the People,

158

(1)

5.2.2 The Citizens Are Irrational and Easily Influenced,

159

(1)

5.2.3 Abstraction Undermines Responsibility and Rationality,

160

(2)

5.2.4 The Will of the People Is the Artificial Product of Manipulation,

162

(1)

5.2.5 Why an Untenable Theory Is Upheld,

163

(1)

5.3 An Alternative Conception of Democracy,

164

(5)

5.3.1 The Suitability of a Democracy Depends on the Circumstances,

166

(1)

5.3.2 Five Social Conditions for a Successful Democracy,

167

(2)

5.4 A Socialist Democracy Will Not Differ Much from a Capitalist,

169

(1)

6 Making Up the Balance,

170

(13)

6.1 Ideology and the Science of Economics,

170

(4)

6.2 How Inevitable Is the "Inevitable" March into Socialism?,

174

(4)

6.3 The Interest of Managers in Capitalism,

178

(1)

6.4 The Positive Political Freedom of Leaders and Citizens,

179

(2)

6.5 Schumpeter's Relativism and Strictly Formal Definition of Democracy,

181

(2)

Chapter Five. Synthesis: The Modernization of Politics and Society

183

(28)

1 The Rationalization Perspective,

184

(9)

1.1 The Spread of the Critical Rational Spirit,

185

(1)

1.2 Instrumental and Functional Rationality Versus Value and Substantial Rationality,

186

(1)

1.3 Industrialization, Capitalism, and the Dominant Functional Rationality,

187

(2)

1.4 Bureaucracy as Product and Catalyst of Functional Rationality,

189

(2)

1.5 Explanation of the Growth and Spread of Bureaucratic Organizations,

191

(1)

1.6 The Appraisal of Bureaucratic Organizations and Government Interventions,

192

(1)

2 Rationalization and Politics,

193

(4)

2.1 The End of Big Politics,

193

(1)

2.2 The Endless Small Politics,

194

(1)

2.3 Our Lack of Imagination,

195

(2)

3 Democracy and the Entry of the Masses into the Political Arena,

197

(8)

3.1 The Inevitable Consequences of Enlarging the Scale of Politics,

199

(1)

3.2 Are There Democratic Alternatives to Parliamentary Democracy?,

200

(2)

3.3 The Neutrality Principle of Liberal Democracy,

202

(1)

3.4 Trapped in the Emancipation Dilemma?,

203

(2)

4 What to Do?,

205

(6)

Notes,

211

(30)

Bibliography,

241

(10)

Index,

251

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Modernization and Its Political Consequences : Weber, Mannheim, and Schumpeter

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