There is a reciprocity over the Atlantic Ocean since centuries. Sociology almost appears as an American-German joint venture. The USA have served as an identity giving other to several classic authors in social thought, only to mention de Tocqueville, Max Weber and Gunnar Myrdal. In the case of Weber his months in the USA were obviously formative, to judge from all American examples in especially his political sociology. Moreover, especially Weber’s methodology was developed in the USA, in the form of creative extensions by paradigm founding immigrants, such as Schutz, Lazarsfeld, and Parsons, whose Phd was from Heidelberg, while Weber’s methodological legacy was only retarded in Germany, where his political aspects and life and work were more in focus. Probably Arnold Brecht’s interpretation of Weber’s is the most sophisticated and also sticks out as being “above the battle of paradigms”. In addition more American thinkers such as C. Wright Mills pay tribute to Weber, whose influence also is omnipresent in political analyses (e.g. Robert Dahl).
