We publish here the main part of the paper devoted to the roles that state plays in the contemporary economy. The text is an example of political-economical approach in the economic sociology. The author compares the old and the new paradigms of the analysis of the state role in the economy. He claims that traditional approaches underline only one issue: to what extent the societies rely on the market regulation in a contrary to the state regulation? The considerable advantage of the new approach is that it draws our attention towards the important issues related to the economic role of the state.