Abstract
This study analyzed in details the genesis of American school of study of elites in the period from the middle of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century. In this case the author makes an attempt to classify the main phases of American elitology from the 40s of the 20th century. Based on an analysis of papers of well-known American sociologists and political scientists who study elites, the author states the main approaches in relation to the study of elites. Thus, in the 1940s, the dominant approach to understanding elites was the liberal-democratic, according to which access to the elites is open for everyone who has extra skills in different spheres of society. At the same time stands a technocratic approach, which define elite as a group of professional managers who form a new class of technocracy. In 50s–60s liberal-democratic approach has been criticized by left-wing approach. From this point, elite was defined as a narrow layer of financiers and persons, who are close to the president, and this layer is closed. In the 60s–70s, the most popular approach of studying elites was pluralism. According to which, elite has no monolithic origin — it is a complex of interconnected independent elites. From the beginning of the 70s, the basic principles of pluralism have been criticized by neoelitism, according to which the most elite representatives included in most elite groups simultaneously. The late 20th — early 21st century can be characterized in two ways: dispute between pluralists and neoelitists and attempts to operationalize the concept of elite.
Keywords
- elite
- upper class
- USA
- pluralism of elites
- neoelitism
References
Gallbraith, John Kenneth. The new industrial state. Selected. Moscow: Eksmo, 2008. 1200 p.
Giraud, T. Political Science. Translated from Polish. Kharkov: Humanitarian Center, 2006. 428 p.
Mills, R. The power elite / Translated from the English by E.I. Rosenthal, L.G. Roshal, V.L. Kohn. Moscow: Publishing House of Foreign literature, 1959. 543 p.
Parenti, M. Democracy for the few. A board book about political games in the USA. Translated from the 7th English edition by V. Gorbatenko. Moscow: Generation, 2006. 416 p.
Sartori, D. Vertical Democracy. Policy. Political research. 1993. No. 2. P. 80–89.
Higley, D. Democracy and elites. Politiya: Analysis. Chronicle. Prediction (Journal of Political Philosophy and Sociology of Politics). 2006. No. 2. P. 22–31.
Burnham, J. The Managerial revolution. What is happening in the world. N. Y.: Day, 1941. 295 p.
Dahl, R.A. Who Governs: Democracy and Power in an American City. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1961. 355 p.
Domhoff, W. The Higher Circles & The Governing Class in America. N. Y., 1970. 367 p.
Keller, S. Beyond the Ruling Class. Strategic Elites in Modern Society. N. Y.: Random House, 1963. 354 p.
Lasswell, H. Power and Personality, N. Y.: Norton, 1948. 262 p.
Lasswell, H. World politics and personal insecurity. N. Y.: McGrow-НШ, 1935. 307 р.
Marvick, D. Harold, D. Lasswell on Political Sociology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977. 456 p.
Meisel J.H. The Myth of the Ruling Class. Gaetano Mosca and the “Elite”. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1958. 432 p.
Riesman, D. The Lonely Crowd. N. Y.: Doubleday Anchor Edition, 1953. 359 p.