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Why elites always rule democracies-and why recognizing that reality can help us respond to the crisis of democracy today
A central paradox of democracies is that they are always ruled by elites. What can democracy mean in this context? Today, it is often said that a populist revolt against elites is driving democratic politics throughout the West. But in Elites and Democracy, Hugo Drochon argues that democracy is more accurately and usefully understood as a perpetual struggle among competing elites-between rising elites and ruling elites. Real political change comes from the interaction between social movements and elite political institutions such as parties. But, although true democracy-the rule of the people-may never be achieved, striving towards it can bring about worthwhile democratic results.
At the turn of the twentieth century, Gaetano Mosca, Vilfredo Pareto, and Robert Michels put forward "elite" theories of democracy and gave us terms such as the "ruling class" and "elites" itself. Drawing on their work and tracing the history of democratic thought through figures such as Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, C. Wright Mills, and Raymond Aron, Elites and Democracy reveals that this fundamentally elitist basis of democracy-democracy understood as competition between elites-was there all along. The challenge is to think it anew.
Moving away from procedural or principled conceptions of democracy, Elites and Democracy develops a dynamic theory of democracy, one grounded in movement. With current politics defined by a populist backlash against elites, dynamic democracy offers the tools we urgently need to understand our contemporary predicament and to act upon it. Hugo Drochon is associate professor of political theory at the University of Nottingham. He is the author of Nietzsche's Great Politics (Princeton). "Elites and Democracy offers a fresh and insightful examination of elite theory, showing its continued relevance to contemporary democratic systems. Revisiting the foundational thinkers-Mosca, Pareto, and Michels-Hugo Drochon brings historical depth and interpretive nuance to their work, treating their ideas not as historical artifacts but as powerful tools for analyzing the dynamics of modern power. By revitalizing elite theory for the twenty-first century, Drochon presents democracy not as a fixed structure, but as an ongoing struggle-marked by contestation, transformation, and resistance. This book is essential reading for those trying to understand today's shifting political landscape and the enduring role of elites within it."-Fernanda Gallo, Homerton College, University of Cambridge
"Elites and Democracy is lucid and engagingly written, taking on questions of unquestionable contemporary and theoretical importance. Drochon has produced a rich account of the history of elite theory and a provocative outline of an elite-focused, dynamic theory of democracy. Even for those who are not convinced, Drochon's argument must be recognized and answered."-John Medearis, author of Why Democracy Is Oppositional
"Drawing on the elitist tradition of democratic theory, Drochon confronts the paradox whereby democracy gives rise to oligarchy. In the spirit of Mosca, Pareto, and Michels, he develops a theory of 'dynamic democracy' as the continual challenge to elite rule. An important contribution to both the intellectual history and political theory of modern democracy."-Richard Bellamy, University College London
"A fascinating and paradoxical study of democratic societies and the contest between elites that drives them...Tremendous."-Matthew d'Ancona, The New World "Another way of explaining populism, suggested by Hugo Drochon in his new book, Elites and Democracy, is to see populist politics as 'the process of replacing one elite with another'. Trump and Farage may claim to be outsiders to the political mainstream but they are part of the
A central paradox of democracies is that they are always ruled by elites. What can democracy mean in this context? Today, it is often said that a populist revolt against elites is driving democratic politics throughout the West. But in Elites and Democracy, Hugo Drochon argues that democracy is more accurately and usefully understood as a perpetual struggle among competing elites-between rising elites and ruling elites. Real political change comes from the interaction between social movements and elite political institutions such as parties. But, although true democracy-the rule of the people-may never be achieved, striving towards it can bring about worthwhile democratic results.
At the turn of the twentieth century, Gaetano Mosca, Vilfredo Pareto, and Robert Michels put forward "elite" theories of democracy and gave us terms such as the "ruling class" and "elites" itself. Drawing on their work and tracing the history of democratic thought through figures such as Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, C. Wright Mills, and Raymond Aron, Elites and Democracy reveals that this fundamentally elitist basis of democracy-democracy understood as competition between elites-was there all along. The challenge is to think it anew.
Moving away from procedural or principled conceptions of democracy, Elites and Democracy develops a dynamic theory of democracy, one grounded in movement. With current politics defined by a populist backlash against elites, dynamic democracy offers the tools we urgently need to understand our contemporary predicament and to act upon it. Hugo Drochon is associate professor of political theory at the University of Nottingham. He is the author of Nietzsche's Great Politics (Princeton). "Elites and Democracy offers a fresh and insightful examination of elite theory, showing its continued relevance to contemporary democratic systems. Revisiting the foundational thinkers-Mosca, Pareto, and Michels-Hugo Drochon brings historical depth and interpretive nuance to their work, treating their ideas not as historical artifacts but as powerful tools for analyzing the dynamics of modern power. By revitalizing elite theory for the twenty-first century, Drochon presents democracy not as a fixed structure, but as an ongoing struggle-marked by contestation, transformation, and resistance. This book is essential reading for those trying to understand today's shifting political landscape and the enduring role of elites within it."-Fernanda Gallo, Homerton College, University of Cambridge
"Elites and Democracy is lucid and engagingly written, taking on questions of unquestionable contemporary and theoretical importance. Drochon has produced a rich account of the history of elite theory and a provocative outline of an elite-focused, dynamic theory of democracy. Even for those who are not convinced, Drochon's argument must be recognized and answered."-John Medearis, author of Why Democracy Is Oppositional
"Drawing on the elitist tradition of democratic theory, Drochon confronts the paradox whereby democracy gives rise to oligarchy. In the spirit of Mosca, Pareto, and Michels, he develops a theory of 'dynamic democracy' as the continual challenge to elite rule. An important contribution to both the intellectual history and political theory of modern democracy."-Richard Bellamy, University College London
"A fascinating and paradoxical study of democratic societies and the contest between elites that drives them...Tremendous."-Matthew d'Ancona, The New World "Another way of explaining populism, suggested by Hugo Drochon in his new book, Elites and Democracy, is to see populist politics as 'the process of replacing one elite with another'. Trump and Farage may claim to be outsiders to the political mainstream but they are part of the