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In philosophy, political science and sociology, elite theory is a theory of the state that seeks to describe and explain power relations in society.In its contemporary form in the 21st century, elite theory posits that (1) power in larger societies, especially nation-states, is concentrated at the top in relatively small elites; (2) power "flows predominantly in a top-down direction from ...
Term Description Examples Autocracy: Autocracy is a system of government in which supreme power (social and political) is concentrated in the hands of one person or polity, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perhaps for the implicit threat of a coup d'état or mass insurrection).
Elitism is the notion that individuals who form an elite — a select group with desirable qualities such as intellect, wealth, power, physical attractiveness, notability, special skills, experience, lineage — are more likely to be constructive to society and deserve greater influence or authority. [1]
A direct democracy, or pure democracy, is a type of democracy where the people govern directly, by voting on laws and policies. It requires wide participation of citizens in politics. [ 4 ] Athenian democracy , or classical democracy, refers to a direct democracy developed in ancient times in the Greek city-state of Athens.
Only under such conditions would the governing elite, for example, consist of the people most capable of governing. The actual social fact is that obstacles such as inherited wealth , family connections, and the like prevent the free circulation of individuals through the ranks of society, so that those wearing an elite label and those ...
The power elite is a term used by Mills to describe a relatively small, loosely connected group of individuals who dominate American policymaking. This group includes bureaucratic, corporate, intellectual, military, media , and government elites who control the principal institutions in the United States and whose opinions and actions influence ...
The term democracy first appeared in ancient Greek political and philosophical thought in the city-state of Athens during classical antiquity. [46] [47] The word comes from dêmos '(common) people' and krátos 'force/might'. [48] Under Cleisthenes, what is generally held as the first example of a type of democracy in 508–507 BC was ...
Political class (or political elite) is a concept in comparative political science, originally developed by Italian political theorist Gaetano Mosca (1858–1941). It refers to the relatively small group of activists that is highly aware and active in politics , and from whom the national leadership is largely drawn.