ABSTRACT
Strategic elites were differentiated according to whether they are primarily concerned with problems internal or external to the social system. Integrative and pattern maintenance elites were depicted as concentrating on internal problems involving moral conduct and individual aspirations. The functional and symbolic differentiation of strategic elites is paralleled by their moral differentiation with respect to the core values of the social system, each being linked more closely with some of these values than with others. Equality of opportunity is only partially captured by figures on upward social mobility, though the extent of this mobility was and continues to be both absolutely and relatively high. As the pressures making for despotism have grown less intense, there is more hope of freedom under a system of numerous, specialized, and morally differentiated strategic elites than under systems of aristocracies and ruling classes. Equality may refer to individuals, groups, conditions of life, aspirations, opportunities, or rewards.
