The Political Orientations and Activities of the Major Groups and Strata

The interaction between the policies of the ruling elites and the interests, attitudes, and objectives of the other major groups and strata provided the principal aspects of the political struggle. The political struggle was waged largely in the special channels that are characteristic of the bureaucratic polities, and also in other arenas, that existed in other types of societies. After the ruling elite, the first group participating in the political struggle in a bureaucratic society was the bureaucracy itself. The convergence or opposition of the bureaucracy, the rulers, and other social groups, and their mutual interests and conflicts, had great significance for the political activities of the bureaucratic groups. While the respective concrete issues in which they participated might vary in different cases, two basic foci may be discerned for the political struggle of bureaucratic echelons.