Political Elite Theory

Origins

• The writings of Gaetano Mosca (1858–1941), Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923), Robert Michels (1876–1936), and MaxWeber (1864–1920).

The theory posits that a small minority, consisting of members of the economic elite and policy-planning networks, holds the most power and that this power is independent of a state's democratic elections process.

Beyond its strong roots in classical sociology, elite theory

developed into a vibrant theoretical field, intersecting

other theories, such as rational choice theory

and political culture theory.

Another interesting fact is that the first reception

of elitism outside of Europe was not overall positive.

During the first half of the 20th century, and even

afterwards, many scholars considered elitism to be

anti-democratic in essence because of notions such as

the law of the small number.

Current Elite Theory

Currently, there is an effort to

unify elite theory - An new elite paradigm or simply new elitism.

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