TBE ELITE C0NCEPT

O ln hlsLorlcal Lerms leader + leadershlp ellLe

O eflnlLlon Lhe concepL of ellLe ls classlflcaLory and descrlpLlve deslgnaLlng Lhe holders
of hlgh poslLlons ln a glven socleLy
O @he word seems Lo have come lnLo use ln Ceneva SwlLzerland referrlng Lo Lhe ob[ecLs
worLhy Lo chose ln merchandlse
O @ackllng Lhe percenLage of leaders ln a sLaLe one should noL make Lhe mlsLake Lo
confuse Lhls percenLage wlLh a LesL for democracy @he maln Lool Lo LesL a democracy
ls Lhe accounLablllLy of Lhose leaders meanlng Lhe accounLablllLy of Lhe ellLe
O Speaklng abouL pollLlcal ellLe power ln Lhe currenL vocabulary of pollLlcal sclence
powers ls relaLed noL only Lo wlll buL has become Lhe sum of processes of sharlng ln
declslon
O Saylng pollLlcal ellLe we say governmenL convenLlonally Lhe lnsLlLuLlon on behalf of
Lhe members of Lhe communlLy funcLlonally Lhe lnsLlLuLlons whlch sancLlons
O 9ersonal clrculaLlon vs soclal clrculaLlon of Lhe ellLe passlng Lhrough a speclfled
poslLlon durlng an lnLerval of Llme Pavlng found Lhe soclal clrculaLlon
represenLaLlveness of Lhe communlLy leadershlp
O @ralLs of Lhe leadershlp flexlblllLy lnLerlocklng among poslLlons verLlcal moblllLy
O @lme spenL for ellLe sLudles abouL a generaLlon regular lnLervals chronologlcal
generaLlons funcLlonal generaLlons
O ear ln mlnd LhaL noL all rullng class members Lake an acLlve role ln pollLlcs @he sLudy
of ellLes ls lnLeresLed ln Lhe acLlve members as a basls of auLhorlLy and conLrol LhaL
upper class whlch mlghL have llnks wlLh Lhls roles by LradlLlon
O @he lnsLrumenLs upon whlch Lhls acLlve class relles on dlplomacy+ negoLlaLlons (words
exchanged among ellLes) propaganda (words from ellLes Lo Lhe publlc) managemenL
of maLerlal resources bargalnlng + buslnessmen Lhe essenLlal condlLlon of
accounLablllLy
O @he ellLe perspecLlve 2 subellLes reallsLlc (Lhose who have been ln a poslLlon Lo
acqualnL Lhemselves wlLh emerglng Lrends) + fanLasy( Lhe opposlLe)
O llLe pracLlces Lhe code demands ldenLlflcaLlons expecLaLlons
O @he lssue of Lhe pyramld noL always power ls dlffused ln Lhls geomeLrlcal form Lhe
slgnlflcanL ellLe paLLerns are Lo be dlscovered by research and noL by an arblLrary
deflnlLlon
O @he pollLlcal ellLe comprlses Lhe power holders of a body pollLlc @he power holders
lnclude Lhe leadershlpLhe soclal formaLlons from whlch leaders Lyplcally come Lo
whlch accounLablllLy ls malnLalned durlng a glver generaLlon@P @9 9J CLASS
O pen ellLe Lhe many closed ellLe Lhe few
O llLe hypoLhesls Lrends of LransformaLlon (change ln ellLe sLrucLure ls an essenLlal
crlLerlon of revoluLlon Lhe example of Lhe SovleL unlon replaclng Lhe caplLallsm)
1 1
sL
Lrend unlversallzaLlon of machlne meLhods of producLlon

1
LASSJLL P 1be ellte coocept 1be compototlve 5toJy of lltes Ao lottoJoctloo 8lblloqtopby
SLanford unlverslLy 9ress !anuary 1932
2 2
nd
Lrend llmlLaLlon ln Lhe n of ma[or conLrol areas ln Lhe world communlLy
Lhe auLhor makes 3 alLernaLlve presumpLlons upon Lhe fuLure blpolar spllL
conLlnues peaceful unlpolarlLy warllke LransformaLlon lnLo a unlversal sLaLe
3 3
rd
Lrend conLlnulng crlsls of world lnsecurlLy
O llLe LransformaLlon ln Lhe era of Lechnology decllne of ellLes based on prelndusLrlal
lnsLlLuLlons buslnessmen rose ln lnfluence Lhe rlse of pollLlclan over Lhe
arlsLocraLbuslnessman power passlng from speclallsLs ln persuaslon Lo speclallsLs ln
coerclon (noL necessarlly vlolence)
O & Lhe rlse of Lhe lnLellecLual whose caplLal ls knowledge ln Lhe bureaucraLlc and
dlcLaLorlal sLaLe Lhe lnLellecLual skllls decllne ln varleLy+welghL
O @he uslness llLe buslnessmen have ruled Lhe commerclal clLles (ex London
llorence venlce 9arls eLc) AL Lhe Lop from Lhls caLegory a group beglns Lo speclallze
on presslng sLaLewlde lssueslnsLead of uslng lnsLrumenLs of Lhe sLaLe as means Lo
wealLh Lhe ellLe subordlnaLes Lhe pursulL of wealLh Lo Lhe pursulL of power
O @hls ls how cleavages resulL beLween and wlLhln Lhe meLropolls
O @he Ma[or CuesLlon of ChapLer ll ls whaL ls Lhe evldence of buslness sLaLesmanshlp
among Lhe ma[or powers slnce 1880? ComparaLlve ellLe sLudles wlll have Lhe perLlnenL
facLors Lo reporL upon lL