Sociology of Elites Book

Introduction     1
Elite and mass     5
The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind   Gustave Le Bon     7
"The Ruling Class"   Gaetano Mosca     8
The "circulation of elites"   Vilfredo Pareto     12
The "iron law of oligarchy"   Robert Michels     15
Summary     18
Functional elites     22
Mass and functional elites     22
Functional elites and democracy     26
"Strategic elites"   Suzanne Keller     31
Functional elites and consensus     35
Summary     37
Elites and classes     41
The Power Elite   C. Wright Mills     41
The reproduction of the ruling class   Pierre Bourdieu     46
Summary     54
National education systems and elite recruitment     61
France: the Grandes ecoles and the Grands Corps     61
The UK: Eton and Oxbridge     66
The US: St Grottlesex and the Ivy League     70
Japan: the Todai connection     75
Germany: PhDs and upper middle-class habitus     78
Internationalization of elites?     85
Elites and class structures     89
Meritocratic elites and elite consensus     89
The special role of the business elite     95
The ruling class and power relations in society     103
Notes     110
Bibliography     120
Index     128