Theoretical advances and renewal in elite research

Abstract

Before the 1970s, elite research tended to focus on the resilience of elites as democratic institutions became more established (Michels 1915). The classical elite studies dealt with such questions as to how a minority (an elite) could retain power despite the opening of political institutions to broader masses (Mosca 1939; Mills 1956; Domhoff 1967, Giddens 1973) and the extension of economic opportunities from the long-term control over land to innovative forms (Pareto 1935). More recently, pioneering work on elites has been produced, including cultural sociology of elites (Bourdieu 1984; Veblen 1994), democratic elitism (Bottomore 1993; Best et al. 2018), technocracy, and populism (Pakulski and Körösenyi 2012). The panel aims to examine the novel theoretical approaches to studying elites, among the others, including cross-fertilization from the areas of political philosophy, sociology, political economy, and political psychology. The panel welcomes papers that examine the most recent avenues in the development of elite studies and papers that demonstrate the use of new theoretical approaches to studying elites.

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