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The Political Systems of Empires

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Winner of the prestigious MacIver Award when it was first published, this remains a towering work of modern political sociology, especially of macrosociology. Its main objective is comparative analysis of political commonalities found in different societies, both historical and present. The book seeks to find some pattern or laws in the structure and development of such systems. The imaginative use of data helps to bring order into what might otherwise be considered a speculative volume.
The purpose of The Political Systems of Empires is to apply sociological concepts to the analysis of historical societies through the comparative analysis of a special type of political system. This analysis does not purport to be historical or descriptive. Its main objective is comparative analysis of political commonalities found in different societies. The book seeks to find some pattern or laws in the structure and development of such systems.

598 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

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About the author

S.N. Eisenstadt

62 books14 followers
Shmuel Noah Eisenstadt is a sociologist who has taught at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and lectured at many other universities around the world. He writes on modern civilizations and comparative cultures.

Photograph copyright Tzahy Lerner.

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5 reviews1 follower
March 31, 2016
Who told me that this book is written in English?

I will give you some examples from the introduction of 1994 edition:

"The distinction between congruent and noncongruent societies, and the relations between the construction of social division of labor, regulation of power construction of trust (solidarity), and of meaning was taken up further in considering their impact on international dynamics the study of so-called Axial civilizations."

"At the same time, the relations between the secondary religions or heterodoxies like Buddhism and Taoism and the central political struggle did not exert-except in the period of the Tang when ultimately the influences on the Chinese social and political order, although, needless to say, they affected many concrete changes in the different institutional spheres."

Of course you can guess or ,more precisely, feel the meaning that the author wanted to convey, still, it is very unfriendly to readers. For me, the editor for the Chinese translation of this book, it is a disaster because I have to scrutinize every sentence in it.
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