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Only some Americans fully exercise their rights as citizens, and they usually come from the more advantaged segments of society. Those who enjoy higher incomes, more occupational success, and the highest levels of formal education are the ones most likely to participate in politics and make their needs and values known to government officials. Our review of research on inequality and political participation as well as other components of American political life demonstrates an extraordinary association between economic and political inequality.

Politics is about conflict, struggle, decision-making, power and influence. But not every conflict and not every situation in which power is exercised is widely regarded as politics. A football coach who decides to leave a player on the bench because he has given him a bit of lip, is exerting power, and there is conflict here, too. However, few people would consider this a political issue. The same applies to a mother who quarrels with her adolescent daughter about going to a house party, a schoolteacher who gives a student detention, and so on. But if we were to limit our understanding of politics to official decisions that are taken by governments, in parliaments or on municipal councils, we would fail to recognise the political meaning of trade unions, lobbyists, protest groups, corporations and other more-or-less organised groups that influence collective decision-making.

This article is devoted to the history of the Department of Political Science and Sociology of Political Processes of the Faculty of Sociology at Lomonosov Moscow State University. The stages of the organization and formation of the Department, the processes of teaching formation and methodological activities, which have occurred over the thirty-year history of the Faculty of Sociology, are considered, and the priority areas of the professors research works are outlined.