Elites
Definition
Richard Hanania:
"Can we have coherent definitions for “elites” and “populism” that correspond to how we commonly use these terms? I believe that we can.
Elites are people who:
- Participate in and have contact with long-standing, established institutions that have traditionally had cultural, political, and social power, even when the power of those institutions is waning.
- Have status that is connected to their affiliations with such institutions or those involved with them, rather than a direct relationship with a mass audience, in terms of voters or consumers.
- Have norms and professional incentives centered around raising one’s status via impressing other members of the elite, rather than a mass audience."
(https://www.richardhanania.com/p/why-donald-trump-and-joe-rogan-are)
Discussion
Defining elites in a populist age
Richard Hanania:
"Once we have a definition of elites, we can define populism, which is a derivative concept. A good working definition of populism is that it is a worldview that:
Blames elites for societal problems and stands in opposition to them.
Champions values and aesthetics that have more currency among the general public than elites, namely xenophobia, traditional cultural values and forms of art, an openness towards mysticism and the supernatural, and a leveling informality in social relations.
Assigns status to individuals based on a direct connection to a mass audience or voters, rather than success within established institutions.
This definition pertains to right-wing populism, but it is reasonable to focus on that as left-wing equivalents do not have nearly as much influence in Western countries, mainly because for populism to be powerful you need to build a mass audience, which means believing in ideas that the masses accept but elites don’t. But left-wing views are already well represented in elite institutions. And the masses mostly care about identity and social issues, not economic theories, so even if it’s true that the public is more pro-redistribution and statist than elites, that is not enough to build something as popular as the Joe Rogan Experience or the Trump movement outside of establishment channels."
(https://www.richardhanania.com/p/why-donald-trump-and-joe-rogan-are)