ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the sub-group of elite actors who remained in the sector for over three years and held more than one senior position within it. Combining the information gathered by the analysis of careers with the qualitative data gathered in interviews allows to see the elements that will go into supporting the central hypothesis: the emergence of a distinct and sector-specific elite for social welfare policy. The chapter discusses how elite has structured itself over time, finding a pattern of three distinct but connected generations in the period since 1981. The central role of a restricted group of elites in collective construction of welfare policy must be tested in two distinct ways. In the first place, the people must assess its capacity for intervention in the definition of new policy initiatives. In addition, the people must establish the degree of its autonomy relative to political actors.
