Democratic Elitism: New Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives (International Studies in Sociology and Social Anthropology)

248 Pages·2010·1.32 MB·English

by  Heinrich Best

Democratic Elitism:
New Th eoretical and Comparative Perspectives
International Studies in
Sociology and Social
Anthropology
Series Editor
David Sciulli, Texas A&M University
Editorial Board
Vincenzo Cicchelli, Cerlis, Paris Descartes-CNRS
Benjamin Gregg, University of Texas at Austin
Carsten Q. Schneider, Central European University Budapest
Helmut Staubmann, University of Innsbruck
VOLUME 111
Democratic Elitism:
New Th eoretical and
Comparative Perspectives
Edited by
Heinrich Best and John Higley
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2010
Cover image: AP/Reporters
Th is book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Democratic elitism : new theoretical and comparative perspectives / edited by Heinrich
Best and John Higley.
p. cm. -- (International studies in sociology and social anthropology ; v. 111)
Includes index.
ISBN 978-90-04-17939-4 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Democracy. 2. Elite (Social sciences) I. Best, Heinrich. II. Higley, John.

III. Title. III. Series.
JC423.D381356 2010
305.5'2--dc22
2009041610
ISSN 0074-8684
ISBN 978 90 04 17939 4
Copyright 2010 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, Th e Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill
NV incorporates the imprints BRILL, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus
Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
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printed in the netherlands
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ..................................................................................vii
Table of Contributors ................................................................................ix
Introduction: Democratic Elitism Reappraised ......................................1
Heinrich Best and John Higley
PART I
DEMOCRATIC ELITISM: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
“Th ey Ain’t Making Elites Like Th ey Used To”:
Th e Never Ending Trouble with Democratic Elitism ..........................25
Jens Borchert
Beyond the Happy Consensus about Democratic Elitism ..................43
András Körösényi
Democratic Elitism – Confl ict and Consensus ....................................61
Fredrik Engelstad
Elites’ Illusions about Democracy ..........................................................79
John Higley
PART II
DEMOCRATIC ELITISM: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES
Associated Rivals: Antagonism and Cooperation in the
German Political Elite ..............................................................................97
Heinrich Best
Political versus Media Elites in Norway ..............................................117
Trygve Gulbrandsen
Elite Formation and Democratic Elitism in Central and
Eastern Europe: A Comparative Analysis ...........................................129
Michael Edinger
vi contents
Hungary: Between Consolidated and Simulated Democracy ..........153
György Lengyel and Gabriella Ilonszki
Th e Assault on Democratic Elitism in Poland ....................................173
Jacek Wasilewski
Democracy by Elite Co-optation: Democratic Elitism in
Multi-Ethnic States .................................................................................197
Anton Steen with Mindaugas Kuklys
Epilogue: Democratic Elitism and Western Political Th ought .........215
John Higley
Index ........................................................................................................231
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Th is book stems from an international conference organized jointly by
the International Political Science Association’s Research Committee
on Political Elites (RC02) and the University of Jena’s Collaborative
Research Centre on Social Developments aft er Structural Change:
Discontinuity, Tradition, and Structural Formation (SFB 580). Th e
conference took place during June 2007 in the Old Castle of Dornburg,
near Jena in Germany. It assembled a score of scholars from eight
countries to canvas Democratic Elitism’s achievements and limits as an
explanation and description of contemporary representative democra-
cies. Although Democratic Elitism may have become somewhat dated
since it emerged during the fi rst half of the 20th century, it still com-
bines in an unmatched way two sets of political relations pivotal for
these democracies: relations among competing elites and leaders, and
relations between them and the general public. Th is book reassesses
Democratic Elitism’s theoretical propositions, reconsiders their place
in theories of democracy and Western political thought, and confronts
the propositions with empirical evidence of how contemporary democ-
racies are developing and functioning in Europe’s eastern and western
countries.
Th e book contains a selection of presentations at the Dornburg con-
ference that have been thoroughly edited, peer reviewed, and updated.
We wish to thank the German Science Foundataion (DFG) for funding
the conference, and the University of Jena for providing it with a splen-
did venue. We also wish to thank Rainer Eising and Karl Schmitt (both
University of Jena), Ursula Hoff mann-Lange and Andreas Gruber
(both University of Bamberg), Ekkart L. Zimmermann (University of
Dresden), Jan Pakulski (University of Tasmania), Gwen Moore (State
University of New York, Albany), and Jean-Pascal Daloz (Oxford
University) for valuable comments and contributions that helped make
the conference a success and that have numerous traces in this book.
We thank two anonymous Brill reviewers for truly extensive and pen-
etrating critiques of the book’s draft chapters. Finally, we thank Verona
Christmas-Best most warmly for indispensable help in editing the
book.

NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
Heinrich Best is Professor of Sociology at the University of Jena,
where he holds the Chair of Social Science Research Methods and
Structural Analysis of Modern Societies. He is also Co-Director of the
Collaborative Research Centre there. His recent publications include
Parliamentary Representatives in Europe 1848–2000 (2000, with
M. Cotta), Democratic Representation in Europe: Diversity, Change and
Convergence (2007, with M. Cotta), and Elites and Social Change. Th e
Socialist and Post-Socialist Experience (2008, with R. Gebauer).
Jens Borchert is Professor of Political Science at the University of
Frankfurt, where he holds the Chair in Political Sociology and State
Th eory. His recent publications include Th e Professionalization of
Politics: On the Necessity of a Nuisance (2003, in German), and Th e
Political Class in Advanced Democracies (2003, with J. Zeiss).
Michael Edinger is Senior Researcher at the University of Jena,
where he coordinates research on parliamentary elites in the Collab-
orative Research Centre. He is a member of the editorial board of
Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen, the journal of German parliamentary
aff airs. His publications include Political Careers in Europe (2009, with
S. Jahr), and “Th e Making of Representative Elites in East Germany”
(2009).
Fredrik Engelstad is Professor of Sociology at the University of Oslo
and research director at the Institute for Social Research, Oslo. He is
series editor of the yearbook Comparative Social Research, and a board
member of the European Consortium for Sociological Research. His
recent publications include Comparative Studies of Culture and Power
(2003), Power and Democracy. Critical Interventions (2004, with Ø.
Østerud), and Comparative Studies of Social and Political Elites (2007,
with T. Gulbrandsen).
Trygve Gulbrandsen is Senior Researcher at the Institute for Social
Research, Oslo, and Professor of Sociology at the University of Oslo.