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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Write short note: Power of the elite and the masses in democratic societies.

  • UPSC 1983
  • Politics and Society

Democratic theory places sovereignty in the people; elite theory holds that a minority rules everywhere. In democratic societies the real question is the relationship between the two: whether the masses are a passive audience for elites or a force that constrains and renews them.

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions.

What the full answer covers

  • The elite-centred view: masses as passive
  • The democratic-elitist view: masses as judges
  • Mutual dependence
  • How the two are linked: Kornhauser
  • Indian democratic experience
  • Conclusion

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