Elite theory

Through the study of social rulers and outstanding figures, this paper explains the research methods of western political science, sociological theory, social nature and ruling relationship. The word "elite" first appeared in France in the17th century, meaning "selected minority" or "outstanding person". According to the elite theory, the rulers of society are a minority in society, but they surpass most of the ruled in intelligence, character, ability and property, and have an important influence and role on the development of society, so they are social elites. Among them, a very small number of political elites represent certain interest groups and hold major decision-making power. Their political attitudes, words and deeds have an important influence on the direction and prospect of political development and determine the nature of politics. It is necessary to analyze these political elites to reveal the nature and laws of politics.

The origin of evolutionary elitism can be traced back to Plato in ancient Greece? The idea of "philosopher politics" and N Machiavelli in medieval Italy? A study on the power and ruling skills of rulers. Later, C.-H.de Saint-Simon of France? , H. tarn, L. Plovic, etc. It also discusses who rules the society, the nature of rulers, how to maintain and how to rule, which plays an important role in the emergence and development of elite theory. It was not until the middle of19th century that elitism formed a clear theoretical framework and research methods and gained a theoretical position.

The basic content of elite theory can be divided into early and contemporary. People usually refer to the elitism from the end of 19 to the 1950s as the early elitism. There are three representatives in this period, they are: ① Italian sociologist mosca, whose representative is the ruling class. He believes that all societies have ruling classes and ruled classes; Social civilization changes with the change of elite. He pays attention to the essence of political elites, the way they gain power, and the changes in different historical environments. At the same time, the maintenance and replacement of elite status are discussed. (2) Italian sociologist V. Pareto, whose representative figure is Thought and Society. He perfected the "elite mobility theory" and thought that the rise and fall of elites and the mobility between elites and non-elites were inevitable, which was the basic factor to maintain social balance. If there is no normal flow, it will lead to political instability, revolutionary situation and collective flow of elites, not personal flow. (3) Swiss German sociologist R. michels put forward the "iron law of oligarchy" in On Political Parties, arguing that political parties and all other human organizations can't avoid the tendency of oligarchy. The early elite theory focused on the political rule of the elite, emphasized the innate quality of people, paid attention to speculative research, especially the role of a few rulers, and ignored the role of democratic system in the political process. It was anti-democratic and received many criticisms. Since 1950s, with the rise of behaviorism politics, the contemporary elite theory has been developed in the United States. The main representative figures are political scientist H.D. lasswell? Sociologist C. W. Mills, economist J. Schumpeter, etc. Although the basic idea of contemporary elite theory is consistent with the early elite theory, contemporary researchers not only pay attention to the status and role of political elites in social relations, but also pay attention to the existence and significance of other social elites and even citizens in social relations; Emphasize the special skills formed by people's acquired practice, and think that elites can be produced not only from the upper and lower classes of society, but also from the political field and other social fields; Citizens can express their interests through various forms of political participation, exert influence on rulers, and force them to make decisions beneficial to the majority; Once elites lose their leadership and public trust, they may be replaced. Contemporary elite theory advocates "value neutrality" and pays attention to multidisciplinary empirical research. Through qualitative or quantitative analysis of the origin, experience, culture, social background, relationship, representativeness and leadership behavior of western political, economic, technical and military elites, the effectiveness of social power relations and democratic politics is demonstrated.

The theory of meaning elite tries to reveal the essence and operating law of political system from social elites, especially political leaders and outstanding figures, opens up new ways of political science research, forms some analytical means, and plays an important role in contemporary western political science research and political phenomenon analysis. However, some scholars have criticized this theory for exaggerating the personal role and subjective conditions of rulers, and its ideological essence is the heroic historical view of historical idealism.