Elite Theory

Elite theory is a family of social and political theories holding that power in all complex societies is exercised by a small, organized minority, whether or not formal democracy exists. Its classical founders were Vilfredo Pareto, who described the circulation of elites and distinguished lions from foxes, Gaetano Mosca, who argued that the ruling class is always an organized minority, and Robert Michels, whose iron law of oligarchy claimed that large organizations inevitably concentrate power in leaders. Max Weber and Joseph Schumpeter integrated elite ideas into accounts of bureaucracy and democracy as competition among leaders. C. Wright Mills’s The Power Elite offered a critical American version, tracing power to corporate, military, and political hierarchies, and G. William Domhoff developed a class-dominance approach. Robert Dahl’s Who Governs? advanced a pluralist rebuttal, finding competing groups in New Haven, and Peter Bachrach and Morton Baratz highlighted nondecision making. Pierre Bourdieu and Mike Savage have examined how elites accumulate capital, and Antonio Gramsci’s hegemony addresses consent. Critics argue that elite theory underestimates mass participation and change. Elite theory remains central to research on power, democracy, inequality, organizations, and the state.