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https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.43.2018.4.7-32
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Challenged Elites - Elites as Challengers: Towards a Unified Theory of Representative Elites
Aktuelle Herausforderungen für etablierte Eliten - Neue Eliten als Herausforderer: Bausteine einer umfassenden Theorie repräsentativer Eliten
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Abstract This HSR Special Issue assembles contributions on current topics of elite research. They deal in particular with the challenges globalization poses for the traditional linkages between citizens and their representatives and their impact on political legitimacy. We argue that these developments upset... view more
This HSR Special Issue assembles contributions on current topics of elite research. They deal in particular with the challenges globalization poses for the traditional linkages between citizens and their representatives and their impact on political legitimacy. We argue that these developments upset the balance between a broad elite consensus embracing universal values and citizens' fears that their representatives pay too little attention to their demands to fight the negative effects of globalization on the country. We develop a unified theory of representative elites by combining three theorems: The theorem of antagonistic cooperation, the principal-agent theorem and the challenge-response theorem. While the first explains how elite consensus ensures effective policy making, the second demands responsiveness to citizen demands, and the third implies that fundamental social and political changes produce strains for established intra-elite and elite-citizen relations.... view less
Keywords
elite research; representation; legitimacy; democracy; principal-agent-theory; protest; twenty-first century
Classification
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Free Keywords
elite consensus; antagonistic cooperation; principal-agent theorem; elite responsivity; globalization; challenge-response theorem; political protest
Document language
English
Publication Year
2018
Page/Pages
p. 7-32
Journal
Historical Social Research, 43 (2018) 4
Issue topic
Challenged Elites - Elites as Challengers: The Impact of Civil Activism, Populism and the Economic Crisis on Elite Structures, Orientations and Agendas
ISSN
0172-6404
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed