Elitism is the belief or notion that individuals who form an

elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...

—a select group of people perceived as having an intrinsic quality, high

intellect In the study of the human mind, intellect refers to, describes, and identifies the ability of the human mind to reach correct conclusions about what is true and what is false in reality; and how to solve problems. Derived from the Ancient Gree ...

, wealth, power,

notability Notability is the property of being worthy of notice, having fame, or being considered to be of a high degree of interest, significance, or distinction. It also refers to the capacity to be such. Persons who are notable due to public responsibi ...

, 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. The term ''elitism'' may be used to describe a situation in which power is concentrated in the hands of a limited number of people. Beliefs that are in opposition to elitism include egalitarianism, anti-intellectualism,

populism Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

, and the

political theory Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...

pluralism Pluralism denotes a diversity of views or stands rather than a single approach or method. Pluralism or pluralist may refer to: Politics and law * Pluralism (political philosophy), the acknowledgement of a diversity of political systems * Plur ...

. Elite theory is the sociological or political science analysis of elite influence in society: elite theorists regard pluralism as a

utopian ideal A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...

. Elitism is closely related to

social class A social class is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the Upper class, upper, Middle class, middle and Working class, lower classes. Membership in a social class can for ...

and what sociologists term "

social stratification Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation, social status, or derived power (social and political). As ...

". In modern

Western societies The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

, social stratification is typically defined in terms of three distinct

es: the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class. Some

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

s for "elite" might be "upper-class" or " aristocratic", indicating that the individual in question has a relatively large degree of control over a society's means of production. This includes those who gain this position due to socioeconomic means and not personal achievement. However, these terms are misleading when discussing elitism as a political theory, because they are often associated with negative "class" connotations and fail to appreciate a more unbiased exploration of the philosophy.

Characteristics

Attributes that identify an elite vary; personal achievement may not be essential. Elite status ''can'' be based on personal achievement, such as degrees from top-rate universities or impressive internships and job offers, as well as on lineage or passed-on fame from parents or grandparents. As a term, "elite" usually describes a person or group of people who are members of the uppermost class of society, and wealth can contribute to that class determination. Personal attributes commonly purported by elitist theorists to be characteristic of the elite include: rigorous study of, or great accomplishment within, a particular field; a long track record of competence in a demanding field; an extensive history of dedication and effort in service to a specific discipline (e.g., medicine or law) or a high degree of accomplishment, training or wisdom within a given field; a high degree of physical

discipline Discipline refers to rule following behavior, to regulate, order, control and authority. It may also refer to punishment. Discipline is used to create habits, routines, and automatic mechanisms such as blind obedience. It may be inflicted on ot ...

. Elitists tend to favor social systems such as

meritocracy Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods and/or political power are vested in individual people based on talent, effort, and achiev ...

, technocracy and plutocracy as opposed to political egalitarianism and

. Elitists believe only a few "movers and shakers" truly change society, rather than the majority of people who only vote and elect the elites into power. Elitism can not be entirely defined in one nature. Its interpretations broaden over time and communities or groups can create their own interpretations of elitism. The common characteristic among all these forms of elitism is that it shows some form of inferiority-superiority.

References

External links

* Deresiewicz, William (June 2008)
The Disadvantages of an Elite Education
"Our best universities have forgotten that the reason they exist is to make minds, not careers." '' The American Scholar.''
Review
of William Deresiewicz's book ''

Excellent Sheep ''Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life'' is a 2015 book of social criticism on the role of elite colleges in American society written by William Deresiewicz and published by Free Press. Deres ...

'' (April 2015), ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

'' {{Authority control Social groups Political science Ideologies Oligarchy Social theories Narcissism Prejudices Elite theory Psychological attitude Pejorative terms

Characteristics

See also

References

External links