elite

Examples of elite in the following topics:

• Propaganda and the Mass Media

  • They argue that such a portrayal was often used as a means to silence voices critical of elite interests.
  • According to Mills, the eponymous "power elite" are those that occupy the dominant positions, in the dominant institutions (military, economic and political) of a dominant country, and their decisions (or lack of decisions) have enormous consequences, not only for the U.S. population but, "the underlying populations of the world."
  • These two models—the propaganda and the "power elite" conceptualization—evidence how mass media can be used to reinforce the powerful's positions of power and interests.
  • Evaluate the impact of mass media as propaganda, particularly in terms of the "power elite"

• High and Low Culture

  • The distinction between the the "high" culture of the elite and the "low" culture of the masses has become increasingly blurred over time.
  • It is the culture of an elite such as the aristocracy or intelligentsia, and is contrasted with the low culture of the less well-educated, barbarians, Philistines, or the masses.
  • Reevaluation of mass culture in the 1970s and 1980s has revealed significant problems with the traditional view of mass culture as degraded and elite culture as uplifting.
  • The exquisite frescoes inside the Sistine Chapel illustrate an example of the "high culture" of the elite aristocracy of the times.

• Oligarchy

  • An oligarchy is a form of government in which power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society.
  • An oligarchy is a form of government in which power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royalty, wealth, family, military, or religious hegemony.
  • In de jure oligarchies, an elite group is given power by the law.
  • One example of this is a corporate oligarchy, or corporatocracy—a system in which power effectively rests with a small, elite group of inside individuals, sometimes from a small group of educational institutions, or influential economic entities or devices, such as banks, commercial entities, lobbyists that act in complicity with, or at the whim of the oligarchy, often with little or no regard for constitutionally protected prerogative.

• Politics

  • From this perspective there are three major theoretical frameworks: pluralism, elite or managerial theory, and class analysis (which overlaps with Marxist analysis).
  • The theory posits that a small minority—consisting of members of the economic elite and policy-planning networks—holds the most power.
  • Through positions in corporations, corporate boards, and policy-planning networks, members of the "elite" are able to exert significant power over the policy decisions of corporations and governments.
  • Social class analysis emphasizes the political power of capitalist elites.

• External Sources of Social Change

• The Stages of Social Movements

  • Sidney Tarrow defines a social movement as collective challenges [to elites, authorities, other groups or cultural codes] by people with common purposes and solidarity in sustained interactions with elites, opponents and authorities.

• Colonialism and the Spread of Diseases

  • These same models continued to benefit elites and addressed the "rural poor" once the "needs of the urban elite were attended to. " Hospitals in metropolitan areas were first priority, followed by small rural clinics that were underfunded, understaffed, and, thus, less effective.

• The Conflict Perspective

  • People are then impacted by the creation of social structures, and the usual result is a differential of power between the "elite" and the "others".
  • Examples of the "elite" would be government and large corporations.
  • William Domhoff believes in a similar philosophy as Mills and has written about the "power elite of America".

• Cultural Evolution

  • For instance, the high culture of elites is now contrasted with popular or pop culture.
  • Social scientists recognize that non-elites are as cultured as elites, and that non-Westerners are just as civilized; they simply have a different culture .

• The Credentialized Society

  • In this system, Anglo-Protestant elites are selectively separated from other students and placed into prestigious schools and colleges, where they are trained to hold positions of power.
  • By teaching middle class culture through the public education system, the elite class ensures a monopoly over positions of power, while others acquire the credentials to compete in a subordinate job market and economy.
  • In this way, schools of medicine, law, and elite institutions have remained closed to members of lower classes.