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In philosophy, political science and sociology, elite theory is a theory of the State that seeks to describe and explain power relationships in society. The theory posits that a small minority, consisting of members of the economic elite and policymaking networks, holds the most power—and that this power is independent of democratic elections.[1]
Through positions in corporations and influence over policymaking networks, through the financial support of foundations or positions with think tanks, or policy-discussion groups, members of the "elite" exert significant power over corporate and government decisions. The basic characteristics of this theory are that power is concentrated, the elites are unified, the non-elites are diverse and powerless, elites' interests are unified due to common backgrounds, and positions and the defining characteristic of power is institutional position.[2] Elite theory opposes pluralism, a tradition that emphasizes how multiple major social groups and interests have an influence upon and various forms of representation within more powerful sets of rulers, contributing to representative political outcomes that reflect the collective needs of society.
Even when entire groups are ostensibly completely excluded from the state's traditional networks of power (on the basis of arbitrary criteria such as nobility, race, gender, or religion), elite theory recognizes that "counter-elites" frequently develop within such excluded groups. Negotiations between such disenfranchised groups and the state can be analyzed as negotiations between elites and counter-elites. A major problem, in turn, is the ability of elites to co-opt counter-elites.
Democratic systems function on the premise that voting behavior has a direct, noticeable effect on policy outcomes, and that these outcomes are preferred by the largest portion of voters. A study in 2014, correlated voters' preferences to policy outcomes, found that the statistical correlation between the two is heavily dependent on the income brackets of the voting groups.[3] At the lowest income sampled, the correlation coefficient reached zero, whereas the highest income returned a correlation above 0.6. The conclusion was that there is a strong, linear correlation between the income of voters and how often their policy preferences become reality. The causation for this correlation has not yet been proven in subsequent studies, but is an area of research.
^"Three Theories of American Democracy". Mathwizurd. October 12, 2015. Archived from the original on October 13, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
^Deric., Shannon (2011-01-01). Political sociology : oppression, resistance, and the state. Pine Forge Press. ISBN 9781412980401. OCLC 746832550.
^Gilens, M., & Page, B. (2014). Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens. Perspectives on Politics, 12(3), 564-581. doi:10.1017/S1537592714001595
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In political and sociological theory, the elite (French: élite, from Latin: eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who...
panic". Culture of fear Elitetheory Moral panic Solnit 2010, p. 129. Solnit 2010, p. 130. Bonn, Scott A. (2011). "How an Elite-Engineered Moral Panic...
due to disagreements between individual members. Capitalist state EliteElitetheory Plutocracy Maurice Duverger, Party Politics and Pressure Groups: A...
the political theory of pluralism. Elitetheory is the sociological or political science analysis of elite influence in society: elite theorists regard...
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scientist, journalist and public servant. He is credited with developing the elitetheory and the doctrine of the political class and is one of the three members...
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514 Gilens, Martin & Page, Benjamin I. (2014). "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens". Perspectives on...
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Italian sociologist who contributed to elitetheory by describing the political behavior of intellectual elites. He belonged to the Italian school of elitism...
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