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Scholarly interest in the delineation of the history of republican political thought has surely never been more prevalent than it is today. The contemporary utility as well as the validity of attem...

Robert Michels is best known as the author of a classic work of political sociology, Political Parties. However, not only are his voluminous other writings typically sidelined in most commentary, but his quite substantial writings on the subject of patriotism have been the subject of almost total neglect. This paper examines these writings and suggests that Michels's analyses of patriotism can indeed best be interpreted within the context of his general intellectual trajectory from socialist to ‘elite theorist’. However, one important consequence of illustrating Michels's account of the history, theory and sociology of patriotic thought in particular is that the picture of the transition in his writings towards elite theory appears to be rather more complex than is normally appreciated. A corollary of this is that the descriptive tag of ‘elite theorist’ actually obscures important aspects of Michels's position in the history of European ideas.

Although studying the state occupies a central place in historical sociology. traditional conceptualizations have tended to be an ‘either-or’ choice between Marxist or Weberian approaches. The differences between contemporary versions of these paradigms, however, seem greatly overstated. Indeed, sophisticated development of state theory in recent years has been precipitated by a convergence between the two schools of thought. After examining leading contemporary scholarship, a mixture of intellectual, political and economic trends are examined to help explain and interpret this dialogue. I conclude by offering some thoughts on the current challenges facing state theory.