Elite theory‟s origins lie most clearly in the writings of Gaetano Mosca (18581941), Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923), and Robert Michels (1876-1936). Mosca emphasized the ways in which tiny minorities out-organize and outwit large majorities, adding that “political classes” – Mosca‟s term for political elites – usually have “a certain material, intellectual, or even moral superiority” over those th...

This article presents a systematic content analysis of three religious-conservative and two pro-secular newspapers in 1996–2004 in Turkey, and discusses some findings and their implications regarding elite values and democratization: considerable internal pluralism within both religious-conservative and pro-secular elites; general consensus on democracy but not on democratic norms’ application ...

This paper is a case study of Brazilian industrialists' attitudes towards changes in labor relations during the transition to democracy. It is based on extensive interviews with 155 industrial elites in Brazil during 19871988. It explores why business elites can and will tolerate democracy, even when it does not always act in their specific interests. It focuses on four key variables in the tra...

the present research seeks to answer the fundamental question of how the belief in the plot of conspiracy as a cultural barrier to the achievement of the Iranian society of political development has worked. In this research, using the documentary, historical and analytical method, the sociological analysis of the influence of the belief in the plot of conspiracy in the failure of the Iranian so...

We argue that the political effects of negativity bias are narrower than Hibbing et al. suggest. Negativity bias reliably predicts social, but not economic, conservatism, and its political effects often vary across levels of political engagement. Thus the role of negativity bias in broad ideological conflict depends on the strategic packaging of economic and social attitudes by political elites.

The political legitimacy and policymaking influence of the medical profession have greatly declined in American society over the past 30 years. Despite speculation about the causes, there has been little empirical research assessing the different explanations. To address this gap, data collected in 1995 are used to compare attitudes of the American public and policy elites toward medical author...