Elite Foundations of Liberal Democracy

240 Pages·2006·0.93 MB·English

by  Michael Burton

SOCIAL SCIENCE • INTERNATIONAL STUDIES BH
ELITE TRANSFORMATIONS UIG
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SERIES EDITOR:JOHN HIGLEY T
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“This important study represents the culmination of Higley and Burton’s &
work—the first book-length exposition of the mature version of their elite
theory buttressed by the close examination of an astonishing number and
variety of historical cases. Well argued, clearly written, and astute, this
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book is easily accessible for undergraduates, general readers, and all those
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interested in elites or democratic transitions.”
I FOUNDATIONS
—Thomas A. Baylis, University of Wisconsin, Madison T
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“Higley and Burton provide a comprehensive and rigorous framework
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through which scholars can make sense of the varieties of elite rule. Their O
hard-headed analysis of the forces that lie behind liberal democracy is all U
the more necessary given that U.S. foreign policy is now dedicated to the N
spread of such institutions around the world.” D
A OF LIBERAL
—Peter Rutland, Wesleyan University
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This compelling and convincing study, the capstone of decades of research, O
argues that political regimes are created and sustained by elites. Liberal N
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democracies are no exception; they depend, above all, on the formation

and persistence of consensually united elites. John Higley and Michael O
Burton explore the circumstances and ways in which such elites have F DEMOCRACY
formed in the modern world. They identify pressures that may cause a basic
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change in the structure and functioning of elites in established liberal I
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democracies, and they ask if the elites clustered around George W. Bush
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are a harbinger of this change. The authors’ powerful and important argu-
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ment reframes our thinking about liberal democracy and questions opti-
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mistic assumptions about the prospects for its spread in the twenty-first
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century.
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JOHN HIGLEY is professor of government and sociology at the
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University of Texas at Austin and chair of the Research Committee on
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Political Elites of the International Political Science Association.
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MICHAEL BURTON is professor of sociology at Loyola College in R
Maryland. A
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JOHN HIGLEY
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For orders and information please contact the publisher
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
LR
A wholly owned subsidiary of ITO MICHAEL BURTON
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. TW
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Elite Foundations of
Liberal Democracy

Elite Foundations of
Liberal Democracy
John Higley
and
Michael Burton
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Lanham•Boulder•NewYork•Toronto•Oxford
ROWMAN&LITTLEFIELDPUBLISHERS,INC.
PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
byRowman&LittlefieldPublishers,Inc.
AwhollyownedsubsidiaryofTheRowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup,Inc.
4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706
www.rowmanlittlefield.com
P.O.Box317,OxfordOX29RU,UK
Copyright(cid:2)2006byRowman&LittlefieldPublishers,Inc.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedina
retrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,
photocopying,recording,orotherwise,withoutthepriorpermissionofthe
publisher.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Higley,John.
Elitefoundationsofliberaldemocracy/JohnHigleyandMichaelBurton.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-0-7425-5360-6(cloth:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-7425-5360-4(cloth:alk.paper)
ISBN-13:978-0-7425-5361-3(pbk.:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-7425-5361-2(pbk.:alk.paper)
1. Elite(Socialsciences) 2. Democracy. I. Burton,MichaelG.,1940–
II. Title.
HM1263.H54 2006
306.2—dc22
2006007204
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
(cid:3)(cid:2)(cid:4)
Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsof
AmericanNationalStandardforInformationSciences—PermanenceofPaperfor
PrintedLibraryMaterials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
1 ElitesandRegimes 1
2 DisunitedElitesandUnstableRegimes 33
3 SettlementsamongDisunitedElites 55
4 ColonialOriginsofConsensuallyUnitedElites 107
5 ConvergencesamongDisunitedElites 139
6 ElitesandLiberalDemocraticProspects 181
Bibliography 207
Index 219
AbouttheAuthors 229
v

Acknowledgments
Thisbookresultsfrommanyyearsofdiscussionsandcollaborativeresearch
with scholars who have engaged in the study of elites and politics. The
scholarwhoexertedthegreatestinfluenceonuswasourdirectandindirect
mentor, the late G. Lowell Field, a political scientist of great originality.
AnotherhasbeenJosephLopreato,aclosestudentofPareto’sthought,who
introduced both of us to the political sociology of elites. A third has been
JanPakulski,acreativeandinsightfulstudentofelitesinhiscountryofbirth,
Poland, and in his adopted country, Australia. Others with whom we have
workedandwhohaveinfluencedourthinkingaboutelitesareHeinrichBest,
Leonard Broom, Bill Case, Maurizio Cotta, Jean-Pascal Daloz, Bill Dom-
hoff, Egil Fivelsdal, Knut Gro¨holt, Trygve Gulbrandsen, Richard Gunther,
Eva Etzioni-Halevy, Charles Kadushin, Alan Knight, David Lane, Ursula
Hoffmann-Lange,Gyo¨rgyLengyel,JuanLinz,IanMcAllister,GwenMoore,
John Peeler, Peter Rutland, Anton Steen, Ulf Torgersen, John Uhr, Jacek
Wasilewski, andWłodzimierz Wesołowski. Overthe years wehave profited
fromthethinkingofscholarsclusteredinandaroundtheResearchCommit-
tee on Political Elites of the International Political Science Association,
whichwasfoundedandlongled,illustriously,byMatteiDogan.Thishardly
exhausts the list of scholars from whom we have learned much, and we are
deeply grateful to those we have mentioned and the many more who have
givenusmuchtimeandwarmcollegiality.Lastbuthardlyleast,DesleyDea-
conandJoanBurtonwerepillarsofsupportduringthemanyyearswehave
triedtounderstandelitesandpolitics.
Wededicatethisbooktoourgrandchildren,PhilipandMathilde,andJ.B.
andOwen.
JohnHigleyandMichaelBurton
November2005
vii