Elites

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Elites

• POLS 2103
• Australian Democracy

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Elite theory
a theory of the state which seeks to describe and
explain the power relationships in modern
society.
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It argues that a tiny minority, comprising
members of the economic/financial elite and
policy-planning networks, hold the most power no
matter what happens in elections in a country.
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Elites defined
persons who, by virtue of their strategic
locations in large or otherwise pivotal
organisations and movements, are able to affect
political outcomes regularly and
substantially. Put differently, elites are
persons with the organised capacity to make real
political trouble without being promptly
repressed.
John Higley
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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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Classical Elite Theory

• power lies in position of authority in key
  economic and political institutions
• the psychological difference that sets Elites
  apart is that they have personal resources, for
  instance, intelligence and skills while the rest
  are incompetent and do not have the capabilities
  of governing themselves.

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How representative?
Oxbridge Education in British Political Elite,
1955-1974
Percentage educated at Oxford or Cambridge
Prime ministers 100 Cabinet ministers
72 Junior ministers 67 Parliamentary
secretaries 48 MPs 37 Defeated candidates
23 Total population lt1
Source Putnam, The Comparative Study of
Political Elites, 1976, p. 35
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Founders of elitist theory
Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) The Karl Marx of
Fascism
Gaetano Mosca (1858-1941) Elites and masses
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Vilfredo Pareto

• emphasised the psychological and intellectual
  superiority that the Elites obtained
• believed that the elites were the highest
  accomplishers in any field and identified two
  types of Elites
• governing elites
• non-governing elites

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• Pareto argued that in a society with truly
  unrestricted social mobility, elites would
  consist of the most talented and deserving
  individuals.
• But in actual societies, elites are those most
  adept at using the two modes of political rule
• Force, and
• Persuasion

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Gaetano Mosca

• emphasised the sociological and personal
  characteristics of elites (an organised minority)
  and masses (unorganised majority).

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• The ruling class is composed of the ruling Elite
  and the sub-Elites.
• Mosca divided the world into two groups
• ruling class
• class that is ruled.
• Elites have intellectual, moral, and material
  superiority that is highly esteemed and
  influential.

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C. Wright Mills
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(No Transcript)
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nearly all political power is held by a
relatively small and wealthy group of people
sharing similar values and interests and mostly
coming from relatively similar privileged
backgrounds.
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This "power elite" can effectively dictate the
main goals (if not always the practical means and
details) for all really important government
policy making (as well as dominate the activities
of the major mass media and educational/cultural
organisations in society) by virtue of their
control over the economic resources of the major
business and financial organisations in the
country.
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This reflected a decline in politics as an arena
for debate and relegation to a merely formal
level of discourse (Mills 1956274). 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.
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Influence on Mills
Franz Leopold Neumann, Behemoth The Structure
and Practice of National Socialism Study how
Nazism come in position of power in a democratic
state as Germany.It had give him the tools to
grasp and analyse the entire total structure and
as an warning what could happen in a modern
capitalistic democracy.
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The Opinion Cascade
Political/economic Elite
Mass Media
Opinion Leaders
Mass Public
Source R .Putnam, The Comparative Study of
Political Elites, 1976, p. 139
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Should non-government organisations be paid by
governments to supply public services?
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Public 'helping' services shouldbe 'not for
profit'
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Percentage of respondents agreeingthat the
private sector should wholly or mainly own
selected services

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Percentage of respondents agreeingthat
governments should wholly or mainlyown selected
services

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http//evatt.org.au/publications/papers/52.html
David Hayward is the Executive Director of the
Institute for Social Research at the Swinburne
University of Technology in Melbourne. This paper
is an extract of a Fabian Society talk at
Melbourne's New International Bookshop on 13
February 2002, which was first published in
D!SSENT, No. 8, Autumn-Winter 2002, pp. 8-12. The
survey findings are part of a larger project on
public services, publication forthcoming by
Scribe.