Is there a Ruling Class in France

Bibliographic Data

ID2299412
AuthorsMattei Dogan (0000-0002-0262-5392, corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume2
Issue1
Pages17-89
Publication date2003-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueComparative Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1569-1322 • E-ISSN: 1569-1330
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/156913303100418708
OpenAlexW2085336337
LanguageEN
Citations received12

The thesis of a ruling class in France, today or yesterday, is not validated by the empirical evidence. The arguments against such a thesis are the following: the overwhelming proportion of elite positions are not transmitted hereditarily; the elite circulation at the highest level is considerable; the professionalization of political careers, which is widespread, is incompatible with the concept of a ruling class; the recruitment of elites is marked by a shift from notables to a meritocracy; the elite configuration consists in multiple spheres and sector partitioning; the selective schools, based on academic competition, generate new elites at each generation; there is fault line between capitalists and the other elite categories; the number of entrepreneurs who have built themselves their company is enormous; the isolation of the cultural elite is astonishing; the subordination of the military elites is an historical fact; the periodical beheading of the ruling elites marks French history. Nonetheless, at the apex of power, a triad, composed of outstanding polictical leaders, of corporate managers and of highers State administrators - called 'mandarins' - operates the wheelwork of the heterogeneous and complex French society and State

Competition (biology · Elite · Meritocracy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Professionalization · Ruling class · Sociology · State (computer science · Subordination (linguistics · Economic Theory and Policy · Elite Sociology and Global Capitalism · Law · Political Economy and Marxism