Elitism

• It is the theory of the state which seeks

to describe and explain the power
relationships in modern society.
Contradicting democratic theory,
elitism contends that the capacity to
effectively control a dynamic and
multifaceted political arena is absent in
the average citizen and should be
reserved only for a limited few.
 Elitism is based on two ideas:
• 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.
 Characteristics of elite:
1. A person or group of people who are members of
the uppermost class of society and wealth can
contribute to that class determination.
2. Rigorous study of, or great accomplishment
within, a particular field.
3. A long track record of competence in a
demanding field.
4. An extensive history of dedication and effort in
service to a specific discipline (e.g., medicine or
law).
5. A high degree of accomplishment, training or
wisdom within a given field.
Characteristics of Elitism:
• Societies are divided into those who rule and
those who are ruled.
• Power is concentrated in the hands of the elite.
• Rulers constitute only a small minority of any
society.
• Favor systems such as meritocracy,
technocracy, and plutocracy.
• Opposed radical democracy, political
egalitarianism, and populism.
Proponents of Elitism:

 Vilfredo Pareto
 Gaetano Mosca
 Robert Michels
Vilfredo Pareto
 1848-1923
 Born in Paris, France
 Family
 Father
 Italian nobleman
 Political exile
 Mother
 French
 Education
 Polytechnic Institute in Turin
 Engineering degree
In Mind and Society, Pareto
discussed:
 Classifying Elites
 Division of Classes
 Circulation of Elites
 Two Strata
 Lose of Aristocrats as an Elite
 Causes of Decay
 Replacement
 Causes of Revolution
History, he argued, is the
“cemetery of aristocracies.” 
 Pareto’s treatment of an elitist ruling class
in The Mind and Society was based on
psychological analysis of human behavior
into the basic human impulses, “the
residues,” the unvarying instincts, and the
“derivatives,” or rationalizations of
behavior.
• Pareto identified 51 residues and combined them
into six distinct classes:

– Combinations: the impulse to form

associations and categories of things, events,
and ideas
– Persistence of Aggregates: the impulse to
preserve abstractions, symbols, and social
relationships over time
– Sentiments through Exterior Acts: impulse
to express powerful underlying emotions through
religious rituals, political agitation, and so forth
– Sociability: the impulse to impose uniform
standards of behavior to realize popularity,
prestige, and standing
– Integrity of Personality: impulse to preserve
the personality
– Sexuality: impulse toward all sexually related
action
 Derivations constitute the next constant
and internal element of social systems.
Derivations are the ostensibly logical
justifications that people employ to
rationalize their essentially non-logical,
sentiment-driven actions.
Pareto names four principle
classes of derivations:

1.Derivations of assertion
2. Derivations of authority
3. Derivations that are in agreement
with common sentiments and
principles.
4. Derivations of verbal proof.
 Gaetano Mosca
 1858-1941
 Born in Palermo, Sicily
 Education
 University of Palermo
 Degree in Law
 Italian Political Philosopher
 Political Scientist
 Journalist
 Public Servant
The Ruling Class..

 In The Ruling Class, Mosca delineated his

contention that in all forms of government
the organized minority is always in a
position of power over the majority.
The Ruling Class..
 Rule by Minority
 Two political facts
 “In every political organism there is one individual
who is chief among the leaders of the ruling class
as a whole…”
 “Whatever the type of political organization,
pressures arising from the discontent of the
masses who are governed, form the passions by
which they are swayed, exert a certain amount of
influence on the policies of the ruling, the political,
class.”
 “…the varying structure of ruling
classes has a preponderant
importance in determining the
political type, and also the level of
civilization, of the different peoples.”
 “…dominion of an organized minority,
obeying a single impulse, over the
unorganized majority is inevitable.”
 “…ruling minorities are usually so
constituted that the individuals who make
them up are distinguished from the mass
of the governed by qualities that give
them a certain material, intellectual or
even moral superiority; or else they are
heirs of individuals who possessed such
qualities.”
The Political Formula

 Ways of legitimating regimes.

 Different civilization, different political
formula.

 “political formulas must be based upon

the special beliefs and the strongest
sentiments of the social group…”
Representative Government
and Political Reality

 “ The truth is that the representative has

himself elected by the voters ,and, if that
phrase should seem too inflexible and too
harsh to fit some cases, we might qualify
it by saying that his friends have him
elected.”
 “…freedom of choice though completely
theoretically, necessarily becomes null…”

 “How do these organized minorities form

about individual candidates or group
candidates?”
Robert Michels
 1876-1936
 Born in Cologne, Germany
 Studied in England,
Paris, Universities in
Munich, Liepzig,
Halle and Turin
 Student of Max Weber
 Socialist
Political Parties
 The Iron Law of Oligarchy

 “…the society cannot exist without a

“dominant” or “political class”, and the
ruling class, whilst its elements are
subject to frequent partial renewal…”
 “The majority is thus permanently
incapable of self-government.”
 Fundamental sociological law of political
parties may be formulated in the following
terms:

 “It is organization which gives birth to the

dominion of the elected over the electors, of
the mandataries over the mandators, of the
delegates over the delegators. Who says
organization, says oligarchy.”
 “Every party organization represents an
oligarchical power grounded upon a
democratic basis.”
 “The formation of oligarchies within the
various forms of democracy is the
outcome of organic necessity, and
consequently affects every organization.”
 “A positive attitude can
make a normal day become
a great day. Remember
losers let things happen,
winners make things
happen.”
THANK YOU!