ABSTRACT
In an industrial, scientific, and nuclear age, life in a democracy, just as in a totalitarian society, is shaped by a handful of people. Major political, economic, and social decisions are made by tiny minorities, not the masses of people. Democracy is government “by the people,” but the survival of democracy rests on the shoulders of elites. This is the irony of democracy: elites must govern wisely if government “by the people” is to survive. The masses do not lead; they follow. They respond to the attitudes, proposals, and behavior of elites. The central idea of elitism is that all societies are divided into two classes: the few who govern and the many who are governed. Elitism also asserts that the few who govern are not typical of the masses that are governed. Elite theory admits of some social mobility that enables nonelites to become elites.
