NATIONS, PARTIES, AND PARTICIPATION: A CRITIQUE OF POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY.

Studies of the political behavior of the citizens of various countries, the course and outcomes of elections, and the organization and functioning of parties dominated the time and intellectual energies of political sociologists in the 1960s. Much of this work was associated with political sociologist Stein Rokkan, scholars connected with him, or those whose work was facilitated by him. This paper makes use of a collection of essays and articles of the book "Citizens, Elections, Parties," in order to raise some issues concerning dominant intellectual perspectives in the field and the implications for research priorities. Two of the major themes in this article will be considered. First, the model of nation-building and secondly, the proposed agenda for research on a problem which has barely begun to be studied. It will also include institutional and structural comparisons of the different ways in which the pressures of the mass electorate, the parties and the elective bodies are dovetailed into a broader system of decision-making among interest organizations and private and public corporate units.