The Elitists
 Politics must be understood in a more realistic
fashion
 Study of power and elitists groups who
controlled the decision-making process in the
society
 Manner in which power is obtained and
maintained
 Interaction between the ruling group and the
masses
Elitism
 belief that individuals who form an elite (a select
group of people with an intrinsic quality,
high intellect, wealth, special skills, or
experience) are more likely to be constructive to
society as a whole, and therefore deserve
influence or authority greater than that of
others.
 describe a situation in which power is
concentrated in the hands of a limited number of
people
 sociological or political science analysis of elite
WORK: The Mind and Society
influence in society.
VILFREDO PARETO
 Wilfried Fritz Pareto
 Born: 15 July 1848, Paris, France
 Italian engineer, sociologist, economist, political
scientist, and philosopher
 His father, Raffaele Pareto (1812–1882), was an
Italian civil engineer and Ligurian marquis who
had left Italy much like Giuseppe Mazzini and
other Italian nationalists.
 His mother, Marie Metenier, was a French
woman. Enthusiastic about the 1848 German
revolution, his parents named him Fritz Wilfried,
which became Vilfredo Federico upon his family's
move back to Italy in 1858.
 Childhood- Pareto lived in a middle-class
environment, receiving a high standard of
education, attending the newly created Istituto
Tecnico Leardi.
 1869- earned a doctor's degree in engineering
from what is now the Polytechnic University of
Turin (then the Technical School for Engineers).
 Years after graduation- he worked as a civil
engineer
 1886- he became a lecturer
on economics and management at the University
of Florence.
 1889- after the death of his parents, Pareto
changed his lifestyle, quitting his job and
marrying a Russian, Alessandrina Bakunina.
 1893- he succeeded Léon Walras to the chair of
Political Economy at the University of
Lausanne in Switzerland where he remained for
the rest of his life.
 1906- he made the famous observation that
twenty percent of the population owned eighty
percent of the property in Italy, later generalised
by Joseph M. Juran into the Pareto principle (also
termed the 80–20 rule).
 1916- Believing that there were problems that
economics could not solve, Trattato di sociologia
generale (Mind and Society),
 Died: August 19, 1923, Céligny, Switzerland
 Presents the first sociological cycle theory,
centered on the concept of an elite social class
 Sections na ng “The Mind and Society” na
binigyang focus sa book
o 2027-every branch of human activity
each individual is given an index which
stands as a sign of his capacity
o 2028- In the index of thieves if one says
"So-and-so does not steal, not because
he couldn't, but because he is a
gentleman," we reply: "Very well, we
admire him for his self-control, but his
grade as a thief is zero."
o 2031-make a class of the people highest
in their branch of activity and call them
“elites”
o 2031-divide it into two: Governing Elite
(w/ considerable part in the government)
and non-governing elite
o 2033- class champions: ex. Chess player
do not open political influence for him
o 2034- Set two strata for the
population:non-elite and elite(governing
and not)
o 2035- labels: ministers,lawyer, senators
deputies etc.
 o 2041- intermix of population happen.
o 2043- pay attention on: 1.) proportions
between total no. of group to members
who do not possess the qualities
requisite; 2.) velocity of circulation
o 2044- demand and supply for social
elements
o 2053- Aristocracies do not last- History is
a graveyard of aristocracies.
o 2054-Decay not in numbers only but in
quality.
o 2055- governing class crashes to ruin and
often sweeps the whole nation.
o 2056- governing elite is always in slow
and continuous transformation
o 2057- Revolutions came through
accumulations: higher strata- no longer
possessed residues; lower strata-
possessed residues suitable
 The concept of ‘Circulation of elite’ can be
explained in at least two ways
o the process in which one elite replaces
the other
o the movement of people from non-elite
groups to elite groups and vice-versa.
 SOCIETY IS HETEROGENOUS- Pareto believed
that individuals are born with different abilities
and acquire different skills and aptitudes.
In every society there are classes, therefore each
society is heterogeneous. Such a heterogeneity
takes place on account of mental, moral, physical
and cultural reasons but helps in maintaining
social balance and organization.
The most capable in any grouping are the elite.
The term elite denote simply, “a class of the
people who have the highest indices in their
branch of activity.” Examples are the successful
businessmen, artists, successful writers,
professors etc.
 Pareto further divided the elite class into two
categories:
o A governing elite- with considerable part
in gov.
o A non-governing elite-rest of individuals
 According to Pareto the work and the role of the
elites are influenced by two types of factors
which are always operative in every society. One
type which is constant is called residues, the
other type is derivations.
o "residues"
 - they are basic human motives
 -the two main residues are: the
instinct of combinations
(creativity/inventiveness) and
group persistence
(conservative/security needs)
o "derivatives"
 ideologies such as Christianity,
democracy, and socialism
 changing elements in human
beliefs
 Following the Machiavellian formula, Pareto
states that the elites are able to manipulate and
control the masses by resorting to two methods:
which corresponds to Machiavelli’s famous anti-
thesis between the ‘Lions” and the “Foxes”.
o “Foxes”
 elites abundantly endowed with
residues of the first class
(Residues of combinations)
which includes the propensities
in social groups to adopt flexibly
to environmental or situational
exigencies.
 capable of innovation and
experiment, prefer materialistic
to idealistic goals, but lack
fidelity to principles and use
strategies that vary from
emotional appeal to
unadulterated fraud.
o “Lions”
 conservative elites in whom the
second class of residues
(Persistence of aggregates)
predominates. They have faith
and ideology; they display group
loyalty and class solidarity; they
gain and retain power by the use
of force.
 According to him, every society has elite groups
of different kinds. These elites, being the best or
excellent members of their classes are always in
a minority. But they are vital because it is they
who determine the development or progress of
every society.
  According to Pareto, there can be also a
circulation of elites in the sense of being a
process by which individuals circulate between
the elite and the non-elite. This process of
replacement takes place in two ways
o gradual process of infiltration
o violent revolution.
 Pareto explains all this in terms of changes in the
psychological characteristics of the members of
the elite on the one hand, and those of the lower
strata, on the other. Thus when the elite no
longer possesses the residues necessary for
keeping it in power and at the same time at the
lower strata of society, the necessary residues
are sufficiently manifest then the declining elite
recruits new elements from the lower strata of
society and thereby restores its vitality. Or it may
WORK: The Ruling Class
so happen that an elite decaying in the necessary
residues is violently overthrown by the lower
classes strong in the requisite residues necessary
for keeping them in power.
 Pareto: History is the graveyard of Aristocracy
o history is accentuated with the elite class
since generation, who emerge,
dominate, fall into decadency and is
replaced by non-decadent elites in
society. Pareto has given a number of
reasons for mortality of aristocracy
which are un-graved in history for
generation and generation.
 1. Aristocrats (mainly King and Emperor) were
engaged in historical wars which lead to
degeneration of aristocracy.
 2. The inheritors of aristocracy are not
necessarily possessed with some inherent traits
of that of their forefathers. They fall into
decadence after few hours of glory.
GAETANO MOSCA
 Born: 1 April 1858, Palermo, Italy
 Italian jurist and political theorist
 1881- Mosca earned a degree in law from
the University of Palermo.
 1887- he moved to Rome and took a position as
editor of proceedings of the Chamber of
Deputies of Italy. Taught occasionally
at Palermo and Rome
 1896- Published: The Ruling class and became
chair of constitutional law at the University of
Turin. He hold this position until 1924, when he
settled permanently in Rome to occupy the chair
of public law at the University of Rome.
 1909- elected to the Chamber of Deputies of
Italy, in which he served until 1919.
 1919-Mosca was nominated life senator of
the Kingdom of Italy. He served actively in this
capacity until 1926.
 Died: 8 November 1941 (aged 83)
Rome, Italy
 Asserted that contrary to theories of majority
rules: societies are necessarily governed by
minorities: by military, priestly, or hereditary
oligarchies or by aristocracies of wealth or of
merit.
 Mosca says that in any type of society at any
point of history, there are two class of people
o a class that rule
o a class that is ruled.
 Class that rule, contains a few number of people
and possess all political power and privileges
whereas the latter consist of large number of
people and is subjected to rule of former and
provides essential instrumental for political
organization (Mosca 1939, p.50).
 For Mosca, two political facts must be considered
in order to analyze the relationship between
ruling class and ruled class.
o That there is always one person who is
the leader of political organization
among the ruling class. This individual is
not necessarily the person who holds the
highest political position according to
law. Even he is not necessarily known by
everyone. This person, for example can
be prime minister of king or president or
the person makes the president to be
elected. Under certain conditions, this
supreme power can be in hand of more
than one person.
o That regardless of the type of the
political organization, pressures of
 masses to ruling class and its policies.
Therefore, ruling class, or the head of the
state, must be sensitive about thought
and feelings of the masses to get their
support, otherwise he cannot rule. For
this reason, at least a large group from
the masses is created to support the
ruling class and the system (Mosca 1939,
pp.50-53).
 LOGIC OF RULING CLASS: the ability to be
organized easily and effectively. Minority is
always organized; therefore, it has ability to
overcome the majority.
 FORMATION OF THE RULING CLASSES HAS A
CLOSE RELATION WITH THE LEVEL OF
CIVILIZATION AND THE TYPE OF SOCIETY. Ruling
class under every condition try to
reproduce itself particularly by domination on
political forces like power, wealth and the ruling
class tends to be come hereditary. In fact,
descents of ruling class members have a high life
chances to have the traits necessary to be a
ruling class member (Mosca 1939, pp. 60-61). In
general, prior to democracy, membership of
ruling class was not only de facto but also de
jure. In democracy, de jure transfer of political
possession to descendants of ruling class
members impossible and not legitimized but it is
now de facto.
 Historically, RULING CLASS TRY TO JUSTIFY ITS
EXISTENCE AND POLICIES BY USING SOME
UNIVERSAL MORAL PRINCIPLES, SUPERIORITY
ETC., lately, scientific theory and knowledge like
Social Darwinism, division of labor is also
employed for the same purposes. Mosca
particularly rejects these two theses to use
in political purposes. To Mosca, at a certain level
of civilization, ruling classes do not justify their
power exclusively by de facto possession of it,
but try to find a moral and legal basis for it. This
legal and moral basis or principles on which the
power of the political class rests is called
"political formula" by Mosca. The formula has a
unique structure in all societies. "The political
formula must be based on the special beliefs and
the strongest sentiments of the current social
group
or at least upon the beliefs and sentiments of the
particular portion of that group which hold
political preeminence "(Mosca 1939, p.71,72).
 In fact ruling class like Pareto's elite strata consist
of two strata: (a) the highest stratum; and (b)
second stratum. The HIGHEST STRATUM IS THE
CORE OF THE RULING CLASS BUT IT COULD NOT
SUFFICIENTLY LEAD AND DIRECT THE SOCIETY
UNLESS THE SECOND STRATUM HELPS. Second
stratum is the larger than the higher stratum in
number and has all the capacities of leadership in
the country. Even autocratic systems do have it.
Not only political but also any type of social
organization needs the second stratum in order
to be possible (Mosca 1939, p.404,430).
 The MEMBERS OF THE RULING CLASS SHOULD BE
RECRUITED ALMOST ENTIRELY FROM THE
DOMINANT, MAJORITY GROUP IN THE SOCIETY.
If the society has a number of minorities and if
this rule is not followed due to weaknesses of
dominant group,
political system can meet serious political crisis.
The same thing occurs when there are
considerable differences between in the culture,
and in customs of the ruling class and subject
classes (Mosca 1939, p.105,106-7).
 WEAKNESSES OF DOMINANT GROUP IN SOCIETY
AND ISOLATION OF LOWER CLASSES FROM THE
RULING CLASSES CAN LEAD TO POLITICAL
UPHEAVAL IN THE COUNTRY and as a result of
this upheaval subject classes' representatives can
have places in the ruling class. Because when
isolation takes place, another ruling class
emerges among the subject classes that often
hostile to the old ruling class (Mosca 1939, pp.
107¬ 8).Furthermore, due to reciprocal isolation
of classes, the character of upper classes change,
they become weak in bold and aggressiveness
and richer in "soft" remissive individuals. On the
same track, when there is fragmentation in the
society, new groups form and each one of them
makes up of its own leaders and followers.
Besides these revolutions are another source of
replacement of ruling class (Mosca 1939,
p.163,199).
 When Mosca compares the political systems, he
says that communist and socialist societies would
beyond any doubt managed by officials and he
sees these Regimes as Utopia. On democracy, he
 says, although gradual increase of universal
suffrage, actual power has remained partly in
wealthiest and the middle classes. At the same
time, for Mosca, middle class is necessary for
democracy, and when middle class declines,
politic regimes in democratic countries turns to a
plutocratic dictatorship, or bureaucratic
dictatorship. (Mosca 1939, p.391).
 Ruling class has a responsive character to social
change in the society and there is a close relation
between level of civilization and character of
ruling classes. According to these two
complementary propositions, it can be said that
ruling class is subject of social change rather than
actor of it. For example, change in division of
labor from lower to higher and change in political
force from military to wealth have changed the
type of state from federal to bureaucratic state
(Mosca 1939, p. 81, 83 ). There it seems that
Mosca admits a linear social change in history, as
opposite to Pareto.
 As seen, Mosca's theory is basically based on
organized minorities' superiority over
unorganized majority. This organized minority
consists of ruling class, but for Mosca it is not
necessarily mean that always interest of ruling
class and subject classes are different. To him ,in
contrast they coincide many times. He saw the
future of socialist system by saying that it will be
governed by officials.
published in 1911; its title in English is
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the
Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern
Democracy. In it, he presented his "Iron law
of oligarchy"
 1912-He attended the First International
Eugenics Congress, where he delivered a
papaer entitled "Eugenics in Party
Organization".
 Michels was considered a brilliant pupil of
Max Weber, who began publishing his
writings in the Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft
und Sozialpolitik in 1906 and appointed him
as co-editor in 1913, but they disagreed over
Michels' opposition to World War I.
 1928-He then became professor of
economics at the University of Basel,
Switzerland, a post he held until 1928.
 1924- he joined the Fascist Party, led by
Benito Mussolini, former director of the
Italian Socialist Party's newspaper "Avanti!".
 1928-he became professor of economics and
the history of doctrines at the University of
Perugia and occasionally lectured in Rome
 Died: May 3, 1936, Rome, Italy

ROBERT MICHELS WORK: POLITICAL PARTIES

 Born: 9 January 1876, Cologne, Germany
 born to a wealthy German family
 sociologist
 1897-1898- studied in England, Paris (at the
Sorbonne), and at universities in Munich,
Leipzig, Halle, and Turin.
 became a Socialist while teaching at the
University of Marburg and became active in
the Social Democratic Party of Germany for
whom he was an unsuccessful candidate in
the 1903 German federal election. In Italy, he
associated with Italian revolutionary
syndicalism, Italian Socialist Party (PSI)
 1907- left both Social Democratic :Party of
Germany and Italian Socialist Party.
 He achieved international recognition for his
historical and sociological study, which was
 Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the
Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy
 This work analyses the power structures of
organizations such as political parties and trade
unions. Michels's main argument is that all
organizations, even those in theory most
egalitarian and most committed to democracy –
like socialist political parties – are in fact
oligarchical, and dominated by a small group of
leadership.
 Set forth his ideas on the inevitable development
of oligarchies, even in organizations committed
to democratic ideals, because of such
organizational needs as rapid decision-making
and full-time activity.
 Iron law of oligarchy
 o It asserts that rule by an elite, or
oligarchy, is inevitable as an "iron law"  Michels stated that the official goal of
within any democratic organization as representative democracy of eliminating elite
part of the "tactical and technical rule was impossible, that representative
necessities" of organization. democracy is a façade legitimizing the rule of a
particular elite, and that elite rule, which he
 Michels's theory states that all complex refers to as oligarchy, is inevitable. Later Michels
organizations, regardless of how democratic they migrated to Italy and joined Benito Mussolini's
are eventually develop into oligarchies. Michels Fascist Party, as he believed this was the next
observed that no sufficiently large and complex legitimate step of modern societies. The thesis
organization can function purely as a direct became popular once more in post-war America
democracy, power within an organization will with the publication of Union Democracy: The
always get delegated to individuals within that Internal Politics of the International
group, elected or otherwise. Typographical Union (1956) and during the red
scare brought about by McCarthyism.
 Using anecdotes from political parties and trade
unions struggling to operate democratically to
build his argument in 1911, Michels addressed
the application of this law to representative
democracy, and stated: "WHO SAYS
ORGANIZATION, SAYS OLIGARCHY." He went on
to state that "Historical evolution mocks all the
prophylactic measures that have been adopted
for the prevention of oligarchy."

 According to Michels ALL ORGANIZATIONS

EVENTUALLY COME TO BE RUN BY A
"LEADERSHIP CLASS", who often function as paid
administrators, executives, spokespersons or
political strategists for the organization. Far from
being "servants of the masses", Michels argues
this "leadership class," rather than the
organization's membership, will inevitably grow
to dominate the organization's power structures.
By controlling who has access to information,
those in power can centralize their power
successfully, often with little accountability, due
to the apathy, indifference and non-participation
most rank and file members have in relation to
their organization's decision-making processes.
Michels argues that democratic attempts to hold
leadership positions accountable are prone to
fail, since with power comes the ability to reward
loyalty, the ability to control information about
the organization, and the ability to control what
procedures the organization follows when
making decisions. All of these mechanisms can
be used to strongly influence the outcome of any
decisions made 'democratically' by members.