Political Elites

What makes Parry's book impressive overall as well as respectable in detail is his careful attention to the great diversity of questions which have been at issue. -- Alan Ryan, professor of politics, Princeton University Parry's account of the theories in the field is admirably systematic and succinct, showing what is valuable in each, and his critical remarks are shrewd. -- Steven Lukes, New York Univeresity * New Society *

Geraint Parry was the WJM Mackenzie Professor, now Emeritus Professor of Government at the University of Manchester. His research interests are in democratic theory and practice, political sociology and the history of political ideas. He is the author of John Locke (1978) and, with G Moyser and N Day, Political Participation and Democracy in Britain (1992). He has edited Participation in Politics(1972), Democracy, Consensus and Social Contract (1972, with P Birnbaum and J Lively), Democracy and Democratization (1994, with M Moran) and Fundamentals in British Politics (1999, with I Holliday and A Gamble). His recent publications have been on the history of the relationship between political theory and educational thought. He has been editor of Government and Opposition, the Journal of Comparative Politics, and is a former President of the UK Political Studies Association.

contents New introduction by the author 1 Introduction 13 Chapter one: The context of elite theorising 15 Elitism as a science and as ideology 19 Marxism and elitism 24 Chapter two: The classical elitist thesis 28 Mosca and Michels: an organisational approach 32 Pareto: A psychological approach 40 Burnham: An economic approach 44 C. Wright Mills: An institutional approach 46 The concept of the mass 47 Ideology and social control 49 The perpetuation and replacement of elites 50 Chapter three: Elitism and pluralism 57 Types of elite 60 Military elites 66 Business elites 67 Bureaucratic elites 96 Education and elite formation 72 The `Establishment' 74 Elite consensus 77 Chapter four: Empirical tests of elitist theories 84 Elite background and recruitment 86 Community power studies 92 The `reputational' approach 93 The `decision-making' approach 96 Works of synthesis 99 Conclusion 103 Chapter five: Criticisms of the elite concept 105 The scope of influence 105 Political influence: Appearance and reality 108 The nature of decision-making 113 `Boundary' problems 116 The `costs' of influence 118 Concluding injunctions 120 Chapter six: Elites and democratic theory 124 `Pluralism' or `democratic elitism'? 126 Classical democracy 130 The radical alternative 133 Degrees of democracy? 136 Bibliography 139 Index 145