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Synonyms

Classical elite theory; Democratic elitism; Modern elite perspective

Definition

Bureaucratic Elite is a small political class with a specific material, intellectual, and moral superiority over those they govern.

Introduction

The term Bureaucratic Elite is broadly described as a governing class that controls the organizational functioning of the state through a hierarchical structure, procedures, personnel recruitment, and behavioral compliance with the superiority of a legal rational order. The origin of the Bureaucratic Elite lies in political elites that have formed in administrative systems and have been analyzed and discussed by Gaetano Mosca, Vilfredo Pareto, Robert Michels, and Max Weber.

To describe the Bureaucratic Elite, these scholars emphasize the presence of a small political class in society that has the material, intellectual, and moral superiority to govern and that uses bureaucracy as an instrument of operational power to exercise the political and economic...

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Correspondence to Marcus Walsh-Führing .

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Walsh-Führing, M. (2018). Bureaucratic Elites. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_694-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_694-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

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