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Elite theory is a theory of the state which seeks to describe and explain the power relationships in modern society. It argues that a small minority, consisting of members of the economic elite and policy-planning networks, hold the most power no matter what happens in elections in a country. Through positions in corporations or on corporate boards, and influence over the policy-planning networks through financial support of foundations or positions with think tanks or policy-discussion groups, members of the "elite" are able to have significant power over policy decisions of corporations and governments.
The theory stands in opposition to pluralism in suggesting that democracy is a utopian ideal. It also stands in opposition to state autonomy theory.
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The aristocratic version of this theory is the Classic Elite Theory which is based on two ideas:
Pareto emphasized the psychological and intellectual superiority that the Elites obtained, he believed that the elites were the highest accomplishers in any field and he discussed how there were two types of Elites
He also extended on the idea that a whole elite can be replaced by a new one and how one can circulate from being elite to nonelite.
Mosca emphasized on the sociological and personal characteristics of elites, he said they were an organized minority and how masses are the unorganized majority. The ruling class is composed of the ruling Elite and the sub-Elites. He divided the world into two groups
Elites have intellectual, moral, and material superiority that is highly esteemed and influential.
Michels developed the Iron Law of Oligarchy where social and political organizations are run by few individuals, he said that social organization is key as well as the division of labor so elites were the runs that ruled. He believed that all organizations were elitists and that elites have three basic principals that help in the bureaucratic structure of political organization
C. Wright Mills published his book The Power Elite in 1956 claiming a new perspective on systems of power in the USA. He identified a triumvirate of power groups – political, economic and military – who form a distinguishable, although not unified body, wielding power in the American state:
He proposed that this group had been generated through a process of rationalisation at work in all advanced industrial societies where by the mechanisms of power became concentrated funnelling overall control into the hands of a limited, somewhat corrupt group (Bottomore 1993:25). This reflected a decline in politics as an arena for debate and relegation to a merely formal level of discourse (Mills 1956:274). This macro-scale analysis sought to point out the degradation of democracy in "advanced" societies and the fact that power generally lies outside the boundaries of elected representatives.
The elite theory analysis of power was also applied on the micro scale in community power studies such as that by Floyd Hunter (1953). Hunter examined in detail the power relationships evident in his "Regional City" looking for the "real" holders of power rather than those in obvious official positions. He posited a structural-functional approach which mapped the hierarchies and webs of interconnection operating within the city – mapping relationships of power between businessmen, politicians, clergy etc. The study was promoted to debunk current concepts of any ‘democracy’ present within urban politics and reaffirm the arguments for a true representative democracy (Hunter 1953:6).
This type of analysis was also used in later, larger scale, studies such as that carried out by M. Schwarz examining the power structures within the sphere of the corporate elite in the USA (Schwarz 1987).
James Burnham’s early work The Managerial Revolution sought to express the movement of all functional power into the hands of managers rather than politicians or businessmen – separating ownership and control (Bottomore 193:59). Many of these ideas were adapted by paleoconservatives Samuel Francis and Paul Gottfried in their theories of the managerial state.
Robert Putnam saw the development of technical and exclusive knowledge among administrators and other specialist groups as a mechanism by which power is stripped from the democratic process and slipped sideways to the advisors and specialists influencing the decision making process (Putnam 1977:385).
"If the dominant figures of the past hundred years have been the entrepreneur, the businessman, and the industrial executive, the ‘new men’ are the scientists, the mathematicians, the economists, and the engineers of the new intellectual technology" (Putnam 1976:384).
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