Elite Power, Manipulation and Corruption: A Demo-Elite Perspective

In: Government & opposition: an international journal of comparative politics, Band 24, Heft 2, S. 215-231

Abstract

A contribution to the debate about the exercise of power by elites in Western democracies, first examining the theory in the context of other models of power, & second arguing that the relative autonomy of elites can explain how power is used & limited by other forces in Western societies. The analysis of power often neglects or treats as aberrant abuses of power such as manipulation & corruption. Theories of power are illustrated on two dimensions: the nature of relations between economic & political power, & the degree of dispersion of power centers. The theory of "demo-elites" falls mid-way between the extremes on both axes. The relative autonomy of nongoverning elites leads the governing elite to use state resources as strategies of control, through manipulation & corruption, at the same time that other elites use their resources to curb such abuses. Weakening of the independence of nongoverning elites, on the other hand, facilitates unchecked abuses of state power. 1 Figure. A. Waters