Le due vie weberiane del patrimonialismo. Potere personale e reti politiche

Abstract

After the stages of modernization based on the great mass parties and ideological cultures of the twentieth century, in recent decades the main factors of aggregation in politics have largely returned in the perspective of the changing personalistic dimension. These are relevant novelties from an analytical point of view, but without forgetting the ambivalences between "old" and "new" that are recorded in concrete political dynamics: spurious coalitions between subjects and organizations, particularistic exchange and personal bonds of trust, transversal to canonical category and class distinctions, have always played a significant role, even in phases of the pre-eminence of actors and interests of a collective order. On the other hand, research shows that the latter continue to be driving forces behind the emergence and success of political formations and parties. In this respect, the work of Max Weber and the sociological literature of a process-historical approach provide many insights to which it is useful to refer.