POLSCI 1AA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Elite Theory, The Cowboy Channel, Robert A. Dahl
Document Summary
Audio recording started: 9:42 am monday, october 1, 2018. We have a system that is designed in such a way that helps the interest of the rich. The median canadian family net worth is about 000. Elite rule is an inevitability, regardless of the type of political institutions in place. Historically, society has been divided into two - those who rule and those who are ruled. Elite theory asks the question of why this has been the case and whether this inequality is an inescapable element of human society. To sum: for classical elite theorists, the divide between the two is an inevitability in any society. Certain physiological and psychological characteristics confer a political advantage and thereby lead to elite domination. Elite rule is not a consequence of natural differences between individuals, but of the intrinsic nature of social organization. However, the end result is on elite replacing another rather than the elimination of elite rule as such.