Sociology of power: genesis of ideas

Sociology of power: genesis of ideas reviews a crucial field of studies in political sociology and political sciences. Having defined the subject of 'sociology of power', authors delves into specifics of sociological approach to it. Historical component part of the paper refers to proto-ideas of power, especially in ancient Greece through European eras of Renaissance and Enlightenment, stressing early modem studies of social realities of power in the XIX century including Russian thinkers of various shades. A qualitatively new stage in evolving social knowledge dated back to early XX century is linked to works by M. Weber, R. Michels, V.I. Lenin, V. Pareto, Z. Freud e.a. A review of contemporary stage leads the author to offer a new six-point approach to the nature and typologies of political power embracing all historically known political regimes.