Elites
Title
Elites
Author
Chu, Johan S. G.
Mizruchi, Mark S.
Research Area
Class, Status and Power
Topic
Social Stratification
Abstract
By definition, individual elite actors have a disproportionately high level of resources at their disposal with which to influence society. The question is whether such elites are able to act in a unified and effective manner. During the twentieth century, scholars discovered mechanisms that led to elite cohesion and unified political action. In the early twenty‐first century, these mechanisms have ceased to function. Elite researchers are thus faced with the challenge of identifying alternative mechanisms capable of fostering elite influence. In addition to cohesion, mechanisms of elite institutional influence and durable dominance are promising areas for study. Against the current backdrop of popular interest in elites and the many theoretical avenues opened up by researchers doing related work in fields such as economics, organizational theory, business, and psychology, the twenty‐first century promises to be an important period for elite scholarship.