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Why Are Political Elites Inevitable

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Are political elites both inevitable and necessary? Political elites can be defined “as persons who, by virtue of their strategic locations in large or otherwise pivotal organizations and movements, are able to affect political outcomes regularly and substantially” (cited in Higley, 2008). In other words, it refers to a small group of individuals that can influence the different political processes of a territory because of the strategic and influential position that they occupy in society. Considering that these selected groups are present in practically all societies it is important to consider the extent to which political elites are necessary and also whether they are inevitable or not. Consequently, the following essay will analyse if political elites are both inevitable and necessary. To do so, this essay will firstly present different views regarding the causes behind the existence of political elites in order to analyse if they are inevitable or not. Secondly, it will examine the extent to which the presence of these groups are a necessary …show more content…

2006). Furthermore, certain groups such as homeless have no public voice and also because the state is not neutral. Neo-pluralism, a reformulated version of classical pluralism, recognises that elite groups with excessive power exist in society as power is unevenly distributed. For instance, Lindblom admitted that large business corporations had extra power in politics as governments depended on them in order to achieve economic objectives (Smith in Hay et al. 2006). The influence of large-scale business could be seen with the bailout of the Northern Rock with British taxpayer’s money. Thus, this suggests that the economic and political structures that are practically impossible to be altered result in the existence of different political

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