Transformation de l'État ou changement de régime? De quelques confusions en théorie et sociologie de l'État

Political sociology and state theory display two characteristics common across the social sciences. First, the various schools or strands work in relative isolation from each other. Even the terms 'political sociology' and 'state theory' mark these differences: the former generally codes a broadly Weberian approach, the latter a neo-Marxist one. Secondly, a lot of work in this area is concerned with identifying, generally relatively recent, transformations of 'the state,' frequently in epochal terms. This paper looks at some of the conceptual confusions that underly this state of affairs and seeks to distinguish more clearly between state and regime.