Political Professionalization Today: The Weberian Lens and the Modern Political Profession

Year 2025, Issue: 72, 144 - 159, 15.12.2025

Büşra Özen

https://doi.org/10.26650/JECS2025-1751986

Abstract

Max Weber’s Politics as a Vocation serves as a foundational reference for analyzing modern politics and understanding political professionalization. Weber highlighted the growing role of professional politicians, the rise of bureaucratization, and the specialization of political roles in democratic systems. He argued that professional politicians are essential for managing the complexities of governance, and his early analyses addressed the institutionalization of politics as a long-term career. While influential, Weber’s approach has faced criticism for its narrow focus on bureaucratic rationalization, overlooking cultural dynamics, informal power structures, and non-Western political systems. Critics argue that this framework can unintentionally reinforce the political status quo and lacks adaptability across diverse global contexts. Considering major global political transformations, scholars have reexamined the relevance of the Weberian theory, assessing both its applicability and limitations. Despite its shortcomings, Weber’s work still offers critical insights into political ethics, leadership, and the systemic functioning of political institutions. This study, using a systematic review approach, aims to analyze the existing literature that builds on, modifies, or challenges Weber’s understanding of political professionalization. Fundamentally, this study contributes to the field by attempting to explain the practical difficulties arising from contemporary transformations based on theoretical insights within the context of research based on the Weberian approach.

Keywords

Max Weber , Weberian theory , politics , political professionalization , Politics as a Vocation

Ethical Statement

Since the article is a theoretical article written in accordance with systematic review principles, ethics committee approval is not required.

References

• Acker, J. (1990). Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender and Society, 4(2), 139-158. google scholar
• Barbalet, J. (2021). Violence and poLitics: Reconsidering Weber’s ‘Politics as a Vocation’. Sociology, 55(i), 56-70. doi: 10.1177/0038038519895748 google scholar
• Berman, B., & LonsdaLe, J. (1992). Unhappy valley: Conflict in Kenya and Africa Ohio University Press. google scholar
• Brassard, G. (2012). Max Weber and the moral dimensions of Politics as a Vocation [Master’s thesis, University of Ottawa]. University of Ottawa Library. google scholar
• Breiner, P. (1996). Max Weber and democratic politics Cornell University Press. google scholar
• Camp, R. A. (1999). Politics in Mexico: The decline of authoritarianism Oxford University Press. google scholar
• Chatterjee, P. (1993). The nation and its fragments: Colonial and postcolonial histories. Princeton University Press. google scholar
• Cherniss, J. L. (2016). An ethos of poLitics between reaLism and ideaLism: Max Weber’s enigmatic political ethics. The Journal of Politics, 78(3), 705-718. google scholar
• Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity poLitics, and violence against women of color Stanford Law Review, 44(6), 1241-1299. doi:10.2307/1229039 google scholar
• d’Encausse, H. C. (1979). Decline of an empire: The Soviet Socialist Republics in revolt (M. SokoLinsky & H. A. LaFarge, Trans.). Newsweek Books. google scholar
• Duran P (2009). Max Weber and the making of politicians: A sociology of political responsibility Max Weber Studies, 9(1-2), 51-93. doi:10.15543/MWS/2009/l-2/5 google scholar
• Duverger, M. (1954). Political parties: Their organization and activity in the modern state. Cambridge UniversitY Press. google scholar
• Ebeling, R. M. (2019, December 2). Max Weber on poLitics as a vocation American Institute for Economic Research. https://www.aier.org/articLe/max-weber-on-poLitics-as-a-vocation/ google scholar
• EnLoe, C. (2014). Bananas, beaches and bases: Making feminist sense of international politics (2nd ed.). University of California Press. google scholar
• Fitzi, G., & Turner, B. S. (2019). Introduction: From politics as a vocation to politics as a profession. Journal of Classical Sociology, 19(4), 311-315. doi: 10.1177/1468795X19851341 google scholar
• Giddens, A. (1995). Politics, sociology, and social theory: Encounters with classical and contemporary social thought. Stanford University Press google scholar
• Heinz, J. P., Laumann, E. O., NeLson, R. L., & SaLisbury, R. H. (Eds.). (1993). The hollow core: Private interests in national policy making. Harvard University Press. google scholar
• Hough, J. F. (1969). The Soviet prefects: The local party organs in industrial decision making. Harvard UniversitY Press. google scholar
• Huntington, S. P. (1991). The third wave: Democratization in the late twentieth century. University of Oklahoma Press. google scholar
• HuskeY, E. (1999). Presidential power in Russia. Routledge. google scholar
• JaffreLot, C. (2003). India’s silent revolution: The rise of the lower castes in North India CoLumbia University Press. google scholar
• Janos, A. C. (2000). East Central Europe in the modern world: The politics of the borderlands from pre- to postcommunism Stanford University Press. google scholar
• Katz, R. S., & Mair, P. (Eds.). (1994). How parties organize: Change and adaptation in party organizations in Western democracies. SAGE Publications Ltd. google scholar
• King, A. (1974). British members of parliament: A self-portrait Macmillan. google scholar
• King, A. (1981). The rise of the career poLitician in Britain—and its consequences. British Journal of Political Science, 11 (3), 249-285. doi:10.1017/S0007123400002647 google scholar
• KitscheLt, H. (1994). Transformation of European social democracy Cambridge UniversitY Press. google scholar
• Krauss, E. S. and Pekkanen, R. J. (2011). The rise and fall of Japan’s LDP: Political party organizations as historical institutions Cornell University Press. google scholar
• Larson, M. S. (2020). The rise of professionalism. University of CaLifornia Press. google scholar
• Lepenies, W. (1992). Melancholy and society Harvard University Press. google scholar
• LevitskY, S. (2003) Transforming labor-based parties in Latin America: Argentine Peronism from a comparative perspective. Cambridge University Press. google scholar
• Lipset, S. M. (1960). Political man: The social bases of politics. Doubleday. google scholar
• Lukes, S. (1974). Power: A radical view. Macmillan. google scholar
• Mancini, P. (1999). New frontiers in political professionaLism Political Communication, 16(3), 231-245. doi:10.1080/105846099198604 google scholar
• Mann, M. (1986). The sources of social power (Vol. 1): A history of power from the beginning to AD 1760. Cambridge University Press. google scholar
• Mârquez, X. (2018). Max Weber's charismatic democracy. İn Democratic moments: Reading democratic texts (pp. 145-152). BLoomsbury Academic. doi:10.5040/9781350006195 google scholar
• MaYer, J. P. (1943). Max Weber and German politics Faber and Faber. google scholar
• Mazrui, A. A. (1980). The African condition: A political diagnosis. Cambridge University Press. google scholar
• MicheLs, R. (2016). Political parties: A sociological study of the oligarchical tendencies of modern democracy (P. Eden & P. Cedar, Trans.). Batoche Books. google scholar
• MittLeman, A. (2006). Weber’s poLitics as a vocation: Some American considerations. Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy, 20(1), 279-293. google scholar
• Mommsen, W. J. (1989). The political and social theory of Max Weber. University of Chicago Press. google scholar
• Parry, G. (1969). Political elites. George Allen & Unwin. google scholar
• Pierson, P. (2004). Politics in time: History, institutions, and social analysis Princeton University Press. google scholar
• Plattner, M. F. and Diamond, L. (Eds.). (1996). The global resurgence of democracy Johns Hopkins University Press. google scholar
• Sabia Jr., D. R. (1996). Weber’s poLitical ethics and the probLem of dirty hands. Journal of Management History, 2(1), 6-20. google scholar
• Sable, M. B. (2018). Charisma, vaLue and political vocation: Max Weber on the 2016 US election. İn A. Jaramillo Torres & M. B. SabLe (Eds.), google scholar Trump and political philosophy (pp. 255-274). Springer International PubLishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-74445-2_15 google scholar
• Samuels, D. (2003). Ambition, federalism, and legislative politics in Brazil. Cambridge University Press. google scholar
• Satkunanandan, S. (2014). Max Weber and the ethos of poLitics beyond caLcuLation. American Political Science Review, 108(1), 169-181. doi:10.1017/S0003055413000609 google scholar
• Shambaugh, D. (2008). China’s Communist Party: Atrophy and adaptation. University of California Press. google scholar
• Sunar, L. (2016). Marx and Weber on Oriental societies: In the shadow of western modernity Routledge. google scholar
• Sunar, L. (2019). Alexis de Tocqueville: Modern çağın çelişkileri karşısında bir düşünür. Ketebe Yayınları. google scholar
• Turner, B. S. (2019). Max Weber and the tragedy of poLitics: Reflections on the unintended consequences of action. Journal of Classical Sociology, 19(4), 377-390. doi: 10.1177/1468795X19851370 google scholar
• Weber, M. (1946 [1919]). PoLitics as a vocation In H. H. Gerth & C. W. MiLLs (Eds.), From Max Weber: Essays in sociology (pp. 77-128). Oxford University Press. google scholar
• Weber, M. (2023). Mektuplar: Hayat, siyaset ve bilim (S. Lütfi & E. Ahmed Faruk, Trans.). Albaraka Yayınları. google scholar
• Wenman, M. (2013). Agonistic democracy: Constituent power in the era of globalisation. Cambridge University Press google scholar