According to Michels, the elite consists of those Harvard Graduates Magazine, June: 280305, Instituto de Filosofia da Nova (IFILNOVA), Faculdade de Cincias Sociais e Humanas NOVA FCSH, Lisbon, Portugal, You can also search for this author in Marxist criticism is an approach to theory and literary commentary that questions society and culture. 1 / 6. power elite theory was developed by sociologist C. Wright Mills, in his book he was very critical of American democracy and he argued that in reality there was a class of military, business and political leaders driven by mutual interest that constituted the power elite. Salvemini overcomes this setting by making the implicit value judgment explicit. (1980), A construo da ordem: a elite politica imperial. Sets with similar terms Sociology Exam 2 (gov. (1975), La crise des dictatures: Portugal, Grce, Espagne. Could it be used now to counter, from a liberal-democratic point of view, the populist drift? While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. For classical elitism, political power, held and wielded by an autonomous bureaucracy (embodied by the "upper echelons" of the state and high-level cadres) is considered at any rate parallel to (political and economic) class domination and often independent from economic power. Instead Elite theory says there is a small group of "power elites" who hold a very large percentage of power in society. Criticisms of Elite Theory Provided that classical elite theory is wrong, at least about oligarchical rule's ineradicable place in human social organization, libertarianism offers compelling answers to the problems it presents. Pluralism is the theory that most closely corresponds to claims made in high school textbooks and the mass media, and to what many Americans believe. They then argue that recognition of celebrity epistemic power can be a valuable resource for supporting the legitimacy and practice of democratic elitism, though these benefits carry certain risks to which elite theories are particularly vulnerable. It is exactly in relation to this problem - the problem of representation - that the concept of elite can be not only complementary to Marxism, but also important to render class analysis workable, in other words, to turn it into a useful tool in social science. In this sense, power would be no more than the ability to produce intended effects and ensuring that outcomes are achieved, despite the resistance of antagonistic groups. It may seem surprising at first to evoke authors such as the Italian Vilfredo Pareto and Gaetano Mosca and the German Robert Michels, the founding fathers of classical elitism, regarding debates that are frequently interpreted as concerning the need for more and better democracy. For in reality, the elite would have the most to lose in a failed state. The impact of their work on the current theoretical diagnoses of democracy suggests that their analyses are worthy of more attention than usually acknowledged. Sociologist Michels developed the iron law of oligarchy where, he asserts, social and political organizations are run by few individuals, and social organization and labor division are key. (1939), The ruling class: elementi di scienza politica. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Taking elite theory seriously implies the recognition that it may yet preserve its original analytical force and that it might be helpful to demystify certain kinds of political formulae while bringing to light the crucial dynamic of the competition between different political actors typically in charge of the operation of government. Salveminis theory has an apparent democratic penchant for accountability, in sharp contrast with Schumpeters later and famous view that the role of the people boils down to the election of a government and nothing more. This is power in the structural sense. Lua Nova, 71: 81-121. In his view, this association is senseless and dangerous to democracy. The third section briefly presents the theoretical solutions Poulantzas himself provided in order to overcome such troubles. However, this framework (and its practical effects) has been challenged recently not only by populist political movements but also by theories of deliberative and participatory democracy, which emphasise the direct involvement of citizens in informed processes of collective decision-making, thereby accusing democratic elitism of being either a perversion of democracy or no democracy at all. The book argued that the elite had disproportionate influence over the decision-making processes in the United States and by default in the world. Are these flaws reason enough to suspend the dialogue between and elitism? What is more, the neo-elitists will argue that the transformation of capitalist system since the mid twentieth century (the separation between property and the means of production, effective social mobility among groups, the decentralization of government functions, the transformation of individuals into a "mass," the new roles taken on by state bureaucracy and so on) rendered obsolete the idea of a class that is at once politically and economically dominant. Bogardus has described, "The theory of elite is that in every society there are people who possess in a marked degree, the qualities of intelligence, character, skill, capacity, whatever kind, that there are two classes of elite, that the two groups are disjunctive at any given time, that there is an up and down circulation of elite." 7. What Mosca called the struggle for pre-eminence (Mosca 1939, p. 29) is nothing more than the striving for social and political power seen as a constant and a fundamental law of every political phenomenon. The "elitist monism," a version of this theory which accepts and argues in favor of the unity of elites, is at any rate included in the original Marxist problematic of political domination, notwithstanding its rejection of the concept of the "dominant class." In order to bring this constant into light, it is crucial to identify the means through which the ruling class sought to justify (and, at the same time, to conceal) its predominance. Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert (1979). The designation of a hierarchy to these three methodological procedures is fundamental, since they have varying impacts on the proof of the relationship of representation between the minority and the class it supposedly (and not by definition) represents. Elite Theory: Philosophical Challenges. In the end, the ruling minority always seeks to justify and legitimise its rule through ideological formulae, without which the social structure would disintegrate. Legitimation may not necessarily be strategical or even conscious since human beings have a spontaneous inclination to cover their actions irrational (and frequently egotistic) motives with the varnish of ex post and apparently rational justification. Criticism of classical elite theorists by writers such as Meisel centres on the notion that the ruling elite is claimed to be a class. Paris, PUF. etc. (1974), As elites e a sociedade. This is because in the real political process there might be a wide range of available alternatives. Please read the, Please help improve this article, possibly by, Gilens, M., & Page, B. Before that, the elitist rhetoric present in the ractionnaire literature of the late eighteenth century and the early nineteenth can be seen as inspired by a strong reaction against liberal revolutions. Whereas pluralists are somewhat content with what they . It therefore follows that the central problem for any researcher of Marxist bent ought to be "what are the social relations of domination being reproduced by the state? Conversely, elite theory can function as a test to different kinds of hypotheses, namely: (1) that the appeal to a will of the people or even to direct democracy or deliberative democracy is nothing but a political formula in Moscas sense of the term; (2) that modern populism is not an exception to Michels iron law of oligarchy; (3) that the new populist drift towards Bonapartism (and against a model of competitive democracy such as the one introduced by Salvemini) does not represent an alternative to the inevitability of government by elites but somewhat weakens the control of the majority over the elite through disintermediation and de-politicisation. Paris, Seuil. This approach can ultimately shed light on the other element of the opposition between the people and the elite, especially by offering the interpretative tools by which to understand how this opposition might sometimes conceal a competition between the ruling minorities or the epiphenomenon of the circulation of the elites (in Paretos words). The rule of the elite is based upon (not-necessarily explicit) force and fraud. During the 1940s, democratic elitism was used as a theoretical weapon against neo-Bonapartism and fascist dictatorships. _________. The gist of this frame of reference is that the idea of democracy conveyed by contemporary suffragist and socialist movements, as synonymous with self-government or government by the people, is false for both Mosca and Pareto. "Power, hegemony, and world society theory: A critical evaluation. The theory of elites is largely known as a critique of the Marxist theory of a dominant class and an attempt to refute the hypothesis according to which political power or, more appropriately, "the political resources of the dominant class" is derived from their economic power - or, to be precise, "the possession of economic resources" (Saes, Building on recent re-assessments of Pareto and Mosca, Jackson discusses whether their socio-political orientations contribute to the disfiguration of democracy (in Nadia Urbinatis terminology) or provide a resource for the renewal of democratic institutions. [4] Polybius effectively said this is due to a failure to properly apply checks and balances between the three mentioned forms as well as subsequent political institutions. Mots-cls: Marxisme; Thorie des lites; Thorie sociale; Nicos Poulantzas; Analyse de classe. the discussion proceeds. The conclusion of this research was that there is a strong, linear correlation between the income of voters and how often their policy preferences become reality. The cohesion of the social group who composes this new political group is conceived of distinctly (and erroneously) by Mosca, Michels, Meynaud, Wright Mills - either in terms of a unifying center, or in terms of the ascension of a new social group (the "administrators"), or, not least, in terms of the domination of one elite in particular over others. According to both Mosca and Pareto, there is a clear distinction between the faade legitimation, represented by political programs, ideologies, public declarations, and even laws and constitutions, and the real motives for political action. Professor and Kaliste Saloom Endowed Chair in Political Science, University Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. As Burnham pointed out, there are real and significant differences in social structures from the point of view of the masses; these differences cannot be properly evaluated in terms of formal meanings, verbalism and ideologies (Burnham 1943, p. 166). In its place, and as a result of the historical transformations of capitalism, it suggests the existence of a super elite. Elmer Eric Schattschneider offered a strong critique of the American political theory of pluralism: Rather than an essentially democratic system in which the many competing interests of citizens are amply represented, if not advanced, by equally many competing interest groups, Schattschneider argued the pressure system is biased in favor of "the Power lies in position of authority in key economic and political institutions. According to Hirschman, the classical use of the futility argument is based on the idea that any progressive action aimed at changing structural characteristics is doomed to failure; the typical progressive-friendly counterargument is based on the opposing statement that the same action is backed up by powerful historical forces that are already on the march and that opposing these forces would be utterly futile (Hirschman 1991, p. 167). After all, it is as dogmatic to believe that classes have no effect whatsoever on political life as supposing that, by definition, they indeed should. _________. Who holds power is, by definition, the dominant classes. In the years following World War II, however, the classic elitists writings were much in vogue among American social scientists committed to a kind of liberal constitutionalism. If we say that the political elites do not in fact exercise political power, it becomes necessary to clearly state what is meant. Nova York, McGraw-Hill. According to elite theory, the wealthy use their power to control the nation's economy in such a way that those below them cannot advance economically. Need for leaders, specialized staff and facilities, Utilization of facilities by leaders within their organization, The importance of the psychological attributes of the leaders, Downey, Liam, et al. (1984), Los Estados y las revoluciones sociales. ; iii) or, quite the contrary, is this a reciprocally autonomous relationship, in which both stand independently? We have three points particularly in mind, laid out and discussed below. Like Schumpeter, Salvemini insisted on the dynamic dimension of elite theory; at a first level, a vertical dynamic between elites and non-elites allows the former to be tendentially open to external members; at a second level, however, a horizontal dynamic creates the conditions for competition between different elites. Elite size and sub-divisions may vary in differ- The current concept of elites is often criticized, ent social contexts, from tribal organizations to the because the notion of elites emerging from move- multi-state organizations such as the European ments and organizations may lead to a vast array of Union. This aim, however, in no manner implies a simple refusal of these critiques. We should not imagine that the concept of elite and its many specializations - political, economic, intellectual etc. Adinolfi aims to answer one major question: What are the effects of a critical juncture on the formation process of what he calls the political field? Published 1 June 1966. Rio de Janeiro, Campus. The Rise of the Roman Empire: Book 6. The social structure is sustained by a political formula that typically correlates with a generally accepted religion, ideology or myth. (1970), Fascisme et dictature: la Trosime Internationale face au fascisme. For example: "if we place ourselves in the realm of the political scene with the intent of discovering class relations, reducing them to mere party relations, we are inevitably led to mistakes []" (Idem, p. 73, authors' emphasis). The inevitability of elite rule could not be taken for granted, however, as attested by the fact that ancient, medieval, and early modern political writers undertook a constant struggle against rule by ordinary people, or democracy, which was often equated with the absence of order, or anarchy. DeKalb, Northern Illinois University Press. _________. (2014). "4 The class in charge (which generally is inaccurately designated the dominant political class) is the social class which controls and administrates the centers of power within the state apparatus - and not the one which actually holds political power (Idem, p. 165). Feminist criticism of Elite Theory Notion of Elite Theory masks the real issue of patriarchy faced by women of our society. (1989), "A anlise de classe no mundo atual: o marxismo como cincia social", in E. Hobsbawn (org. Burnham J (1943) The Machiavellians. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Book All these differentiations are all the more important when we become aware of the misconceptions that can arise from not knowing them. Essentially, the arguments for this refusal were based on the following: the functioning of the capitalist state must be explained based on the objective (and not subjective, i.e., interpersonal) links between this political institution and class structure (Poulantzas, 1969); thus, whoever controls, manages and occupies the main nodes of power within the state apparatus (the "bureaucracy"), regardless of social origin, faith or specific motivations, has no choice but to reproduce the objective function of the state, which consists of maintaining the social cohesion of a given social formation (Poulantzas, 1971); this is equally valid for any type of political regime (bourgeois democracy, military dictatorship, fascism, authoritarianism) in which those in command of the political administration of the state are sensibly different (Poulantzas, 1970, 1975, 1978). [14], Putnam saw the development of technical and exclusive knowledge among administrators and other specialist groups as a mechanism that strips power from the democratic process and slips it to the advisors and specialists who influence the decision process. Classical elite theory was the work of Vilfredo Pareto (1848 - 1923), it states than there will always be this inequality . (2008), Elites e instituies no Brasil: uma anlise contextual do Estado Novo. Political Science. On one hand, exaggerated weight is given to the autonomous power of the political elites, seen as a group responsible for the conducting of human communities. Kaplan e Lasswell, 1998, pp. (1971), Pouvoir politique et classes sociales. [21] As a consequence, these systems tend be dominated by those who can, most typically elites and corporations. These problems could only be resolved, according to Poulantzas, in a realm of theoretical Marxism, or at least what Poulantzas deemed theoretical Marxism to be. How many political groups are there? Altogether, they seem three perfect examples of a rhetoric of reaction (Hirschman 1991). Agenda Setting Media Theory. Nous dfendons que, l'oppos de ce que suggre Poulantzas, l'introduction du concept d' "lite" au sein du marxisme thorique peut tre productif pour le dveloppement de cette perspective d'analyse sociale, de faon permettre que l'abordage classiste de la polique soit scientifiquement oprationnalisable. (1970), "The capitalist State: reply to N. Poulantzas". The elitist tradition strongly affected the analysis of political phenomena during the twentieth century by developing a democratic elitism that interpreted liberal-democratic regimes according to a model of institutionalised competition between ruling elites. elite theory, in political science, theoretical perspective according to which (1) a community's affairs are best handled by a small subset of its members and (2) in modern societies such an arrangement is in fact inevitable. We have divided this article into four sections. 60-61). It is sometimes forgotten that later revolutionary ideologies held fast to the classic form of normative elitism, even borrowing the Platonic language of guardianship. 2. In the fourth and final section we suggest a few conditions if we are to resume (or in fact inaugurate) the dialogue between elitism and Marxism, pondering what should be preserved or discarded from the sociological critique the latter addressed to the former.2, Power, class (dominant) and bureaucracy. It essentially concerns how must we come to grips with the affinity (or divorce) between Marxism, as a theoretical system, and the social sciences, as a diverse ensemble of theories, methods and research techniques. Magalhes, however, argues that attention should be shifted from Webers context-specific defence of plebiscitary leadership in post-WWI Germany to his broader conception of charisma as an attempt to grasp the meaning of significant social and political change. CZUDNOWSKI, Moshe M. Evidently, all three dimensions together - action, "spiritual" affiliation and social precedence - render proof of the existence of "class representation" even more convincing. "7 However, concerning this point, we can initially observe that not only Marxism is deformed by its theoretical enemies, but that Marxists themselves tend to do the same to their ideological adversaries. _________. According to both, the concept of elite is useful insofar as it explains some social realities to which the concept of class cannot be applied to or cannot be adjusted to adequately. The conservative American philosopher James Burnham, a founding editor of the National Review, depicted Mosca, Pareto, and Michels as Machiavellians whose realistic analysis of elite actors and rejection of utopian egalitarianism represented the best hope of democracyas defined in terms of the law-governed liberty that emerges from interelite checks and balances. The concept of elite (or "political class" or "oligarchy" and so on) was notably borne out of the explicit objective of refuting the concept of class as a little or non-workable theoretical notion. The fact that other Marxists incorporated some of the issues and concepts of elite theory - Miliband, Bottomore, Domhoff, for example - reveals that this statement is, to say the least, debatable. BOBBIO, Norberto. As discussed above, Poulantzas sought to resolve the problem of the relationship between agents of the state (the political and/or bureaucratic "elites") and the political domination of a certain class or fraction based on the conjugation of two concepts: "ruling class" and "hegemonic class (or fraction)." The main goal of the elitists was to demonstrate that universal suffrage would have changed very little, if anything. However, what can we do and say about an entire range of political phenomena that has no relation to the reproduction of the social order? CODATO, Adriano. The second mistake is a sequel to the first one. Elite theory rejects the plurality that classical and elite pluralism proposes. Their wealth allows the elite to secure for themselves important positions in politics. Once can easily notice that this move, instead of settling the score for good, just adds another term to the equation, as now we have an additional empirical problem: how then can it be proved that such institutions in fact represent or serve as a vehicle for the interests of the class in question? 5) Elite Theory. Paris, Maspero, 2 vols. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. In the long run, the democratic tendency always prevails. The concept of class or hegemonic fraction would supposedly identify the class that is systematically benefited by state policies, regardless of whether or not this class or fraction is a collective political agent able of organizing itself effectively (as the "ruling class" in the political scene, for example). The problem of this conception is that, in reality, it divides political power (Idem, p. 158), something that is, by definition, non-sharable. ", being that these questions are lesser or less important compared to the first one. The article states, against Poulantzas suggestions, that the insertion of the concept of "lite" in theoretical Marxism may produce positive effects on it, specially making the classist analysis of politics scientifically manageable. The argument that television news and other genres such as documentaries and current affairs straightforwardly transmit an obviously biased view of the world has been rejected in most quarters of media studies. (2006), Nem com Marx, nem contra Marx. Elite theory opposes pluralism (more than one system of power), a tradition that emphasized how multiple major social groups and interests have an influence upon and various forms of representation within more powerful sets of rulers, contributing to decently representative political outcomes that reflect the collective needs of society. "Classe social, elite poltica e elite de classe: por uma anlise societalista da poltica". Elite theory is the belief that a wealthy elite runs the country. He posited with great confidence that all 3 originating forms of sources of political power: one man (monarchy/executive), few men (autocracy), many (democracy) would eventually be corrupted into a debased form of itself, if not balanced in a "mixed government". Even though both Salvemini and Schumpeter underline the importance of the bureaucratic organisation of mass parties, Salvemini insists that competitive democracy has to do mainly with the possibility of controlling the ruling class through the electoral machinery. This phenomenon acquired a new dimension with the election of Donald Trump, who was considered first and foremost a celebrity rather than a politician. In this setting, Salvemini adds a novel dimension to the futility thesis. A major problem, in turn, is the ability of elites to co-opt counter-elites. On the other one, this theory is excessively focused upon the self-interests of "politically active minorities" and thus tend to shy away from choosing the possible (and in fact frequent) relationship between the behavior of the elites and certain outside interests as the object of analysis. See, in this regard, Saes (1994). Although this complicated equation, intelligently deduced by Poulantzas from Marx's analyses of European nineteenth-century politics, might correct the more simplistic views of the political phenomenon (and, by extension, many simplifying views of Marxism as whole), it does not nevertheless account for certain phenomena that are exclusively political or that can be reduced - or deduced from - class analysis. Before moving on and in order to avoid any of the inconveniences typical of this kind of confrontation, it is necessary to shed light on the precise content of terms we are discussing. Poulantzas emphasized that the criticism the elitists inveighed against Marxist theory either refer to or are an outcome of "poor interpretations of Marxism." By the late 19th century, attention to the empirical aspects of elite power complemented normative elitism without fundamentally altering it. One argues there is a plurality of elites - being that these groups are defined according to the control positions they occupy in different realms of social life (hence, labor elite, party elite, religious elite etc. This sort of epistemological surveillance would also be more efficient in correcting "errors," "deviations" and inherent flaws within Marxist theory insofar as there would be a lesser need to resort to other intellectual traditions. It would be necessary to at least explain how "solidarity" among class members (a common way of thinking) becomes "cooperation" (a common way of acting) (cf. Texas Tech transfer Kevin McCullar is a do-it-all glue guy. He identified a triumvirate of power groupspolitical, economic and militarywhich form a distinguishable, although not unified, power-wielding body in the United States. The outlook of the Italian school of elitism is based on two ideas: Pareto emphasized the psychological and intellectual superiority of elites, believing that they were the highest accomplishers in any field. (1994), Les sommets de l'tat: essai sur l'lite du pouvoir em France. Marxism and elitism: two opposite social analysis models? Adding up these two shortcomings and pushing them to the limit, the "politically active minorities" seem to act in something of a social void. Let us take a closer look at this problem building upon the theoretical solutions proposed by Marxism in order to understand the relationship between social power and political power. At the time Mills was writing, academic sociology was in the process of proclaiming itself a science. 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