“Write short note: Power of the Elite.” (1989)
Max Weber (Economy and Society, 1922) defined power as the chance of carrying out one’s will even against resistance. Elite theory holds that such power is concentrated in a minority. Understanding the power of the elite means asking three things: where it comes from, how it is used, and what limits it.
Sources of elite power
| Source | Thinker | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Personal qualities | Vilfredo Pareto | Cunning “foxes” and forceful “lions” rise through superior residues |
| Organisation | Gaetano Mosca | An organised minority prevails over an unorganised majority |
| Control of organisations | Robert Michels | Leaders monopolise expertise, funds and communication: the iron law of oligarchy |
| Institutional position | C. Wright Mills | Command posts in corporations, the military and the state |
| Economic ownership | Ralph Miliband (The State in Capitalist Society, 1969) | Owners of capital shape state personnel and policy |
| Legitimacy | Mosca; Antonio Gramsci | A political formula, or hegemony, wins consent and makes force unnecessary |
How elite power is exercised
Steven Lukes (Power: A Radical View, 1974) distinguishes three faces of power:
- Decision-making: winning open conflicts, the only face Robert A. Dahl measured.
- Non-decision-making: keeping issues off the agenda, identified by Peter Bachrach and Morton Baratz (1962).
- Shaping preferences: influencing what people want, so that grievances never surface.
Indian evidence:
- The top 1% held 40.1% of national wealth in 2022–23, the highest share on record (World Inequality Lab, 2024).
- 93% of MPs elected in 2024 declared assets above ₹1 crore (Association for Democratic Reforms).
- Economic and political elites overlap, so issues such as wealth taxation rarely reach serious debate: the second face of power at work.
Is elite power cumulative?
- Mills saw power in one domain turning into power in others, as generals, executives and politicians moved between command posts.
- André Béteille (Caste, Class and Power, 1965) found that in Sripuram caste, landownership and political power had once coincided in the Brahmins. After independence they came apart, as non-Brahmins gained power through the party and the panchayat without ritual rank.
- Elite power is therefore strongest where economic, political and cultural advantages overlap, and weaker where democratic institutions separate them.
Limits on elite power
- Competition and elections. Joseph Schumpeter held that rival elites must win votes, so governments can be removed.
- Courts. On 15 February 2024 the Supreme Court struck down anonymous electoral bonds, a channel of corporate influence.
- Social movements.
- The year-long farmers’ agitation forced the repeal of the three farm laws in late 2021.
- The Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan’s campaign produced the Right to Information Act (2005).
- Legitimacy. Weber and Pareto both saw that elites relying on force alone lose power. Elites that fail to absorb discontent are displaced, as the Gen Z uprising in Nepal showed in 2025.
Conclusion
Elite power is real and cumulative: it rests on organisation, position, wealth and the ability to set agendas. But it is conditional, not absolute. It depends on legitimacy and can be checked by competition, law and mobilised citizens. The sociological task is to show how far those checks work in a given society, not to assume either total elite control or perfect pluralism.