{{Short description|Notion that elites deserve more influence}} {{Redirect|Elitist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}} '''Elitism''' is the notion that individuals who form an elite—a select group with desirable qualities such as intellect, wealth, power, fame, physical attractiveness, notability, special skills, experience, lineage—are more likely to be constructive to society and deserve greater influence or authority.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/elitist|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160925233306/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/elitist|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 25, 2016|title=elitist {{!}} Definition of elitist in English by Oxford Dictionaries|website=Oxford Dictionaries {{!}} English|access-date=March 4, 2019}}</ref> The term ''elitism'' may be used to describe a situation in which power is concentrated in the hands of a limited number of people. Beliefs that are in opposition to elitism include egalitarianism, anti-intellectualism (against powerful institutions perceived to be controlled by elites), populism, and the political theory of pluralism.
Elite theory is the sociological or political science analysis of elite influence in society: elite theorists regard pluralism as a utopian ideal. Elitism is closely related to social class and what sociologists term "social stratification". In modern Western societies, social stratification is typically defined in terms of three distinct social classes: the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class.<ref name="Saunders1990">{{cite book | author-link=Peter Robert Saunders | url=https://archive.org/details/socialclassstrat0000saun | url-access=registration | title=Social Class and Stratification | publisher=Routledge | last=Saunders | first=Peter | year=1990 | isbn=978-0-415-04125-6}}</ref>
==Characteristics== Elitists tend to favor social systems such as technocracy, combined with meritocracy and/or plutocracy, as opposed to political egalitarianism and populism. Elitists believe only a few "movers and shakers" truly change society, rather than the majority of people who only vote and elect the elites into power.<ref>{{cite web|title=Elite (elitist) theory|url=http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/elite_theory|website=auburn.edu|publisher=Auburn University|access-date=13 August 2014}}</ref>
==See also== {{Wikiquote-inline}} {{Wiktionary-inline|elitism}} {{Portal|Society|Politics|Philosophy}} {{div col|colwidth=15em}} * Aporophobia * Bourgeoisie * Caste * Classism * Collective narcissism * Exclusivism * Global elite * International Debutante Ball * Ivory tower * Narcissism * Oligarchy * Populism * Rankism * Sectarianism * Self-righteousness * Snobbery * Social Darwinism * ''Social Evolution'' * Supremacism {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Discrimination}} {{Political philosophy}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Social groups Category:Political science Category:Ideologies Category:Oligarchy Category:Social theories Category:Prejudices Category:Elite theory Category:Psychological attitude