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Examine the changing composition and role of political elite in Indian politics?​

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Political Elite: Concept, Orientations and Role in Social Change

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Political Elite: Concept, Orientations and Role in Social Change!

Concept of Political Elite:

Who are the elite? Elite are the most influential and prestigious stratum in a society. The ‘elite’ are those persons who are recognized as outstanding leaders in a given field. Thus, there are political, religious, scientific, busi­ness, and artistic elite. Pareto, Mosca, Wright Mills, Lasswell, Mannheim, Bottomore, etc., have given different definitions. Parry Geriant (1969) has defined elite as “small minorities who play an exceptionally influential part in the affairs of society in specific fields”.

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Bank (1966) has described elite as “decision-makers whose power is not subject to control by any other body in the society”. Nadel (1956) maintains that elite are “those who have an influence over the fate of the society because of their supe­riority”.

The members of an elite group have important influence in shaping the values and attitudes held by their segment of society. Wright Mills (1956) has described them as “those who make decisions having ma­jor consequences, who are able to realise their will even if others resist, and who have the most of what there is to have-money, power and pres­tige”.

I describe elite as “a dominant group which possesses distinctiveness and exclusiveness”.

Secondly, the term does not apply to any one person but refers to a plurality, a collec­tivity of persons, however small it may be.

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Thirdly, this identifiable collectivity has certain attributes and skills which give it not only a cer­tain superiority but also power of decision-making and influencing others.

Lastly, elite is a relative term. A group is identified as an elite group in a particular field in which it is ‘power excerciser’ or ‘influential’ or commands ‘excellence’, but in other groups, these elite may be consid­ered as ‘ordinary’ members.

On this basis, the term ‘political elite’ may be defined as “a group of high stratum decision-makers in political culture or concrete political structure which monopolises political power, influences major political policies and occupies all important posts of political command”.

If we were to operationalise this term, we could say, political elite include those:

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(a) Who are elected/nominated to central and state legislatures,

(b) Who occupy important positions in national or state-level political par­ties,

(c) Individuals who do not hold any formal positions either in the government or in political parties but are still considered as persons of great political prestige and power because they control power-exercisers (e.g., Gandhi, Jaya Prakash Narayan).

Wright Mills (1956) has used the term ‘power elite’ for the political elite who monopolise power and rule the country. Pareto (1935) has called them ‘governing elite’, Marx, referred to them as ‘ruling class’, Riesman as ‘veto group’, and Floyd Hunter as ‘top leaders’. I have used the term ‘oligarchic elite’ for them in my own em­pirical work on political elite in Bihar. I describe the ‘oligarchic elite’ as those who control the functional groupings within the structure with the minimum consultation of the ‘subjacent elite’.