ABSTRACT
Traditional sociology tends to assume that the state is part of the social system, and that a system of power operates only at some levels within the system. This is not the only possible or plausible vision of human interaction. If the dialectical tradition culminating with Hegel did nothing else, it established the unique place of political theory in the study of culture. Hegel’s analysis of freedom is distinguished by a firm separation of civil society from polity. His approach is theoretical in that throughout he is concerned with basic properties of social and political structures. Social phenomena are not viewed empirically as going entities, but selectively, through logical, that is, dialectical, distinctions. The Hegelian approach assumes completeness in that all relevant concepts and relations that would be required in empirical undertakings are worked out. This special sense of methodology as ideal typification should be kept in mind when examining Hegel. What we are provided with is a systems approach rather than empirical analysis.
