Contents

Introduction

Definition

Types of Elite

Elite theory

Vilfredo Pareto’s Elite Theory

Gaetano Mosca’s Elite Theory

Robert Michel’s Elite Theory

Role of Elites

The exercise of Elitism in Bangladesh

Emergence of elites

Different types of elite in Bangladesh

Exercise of elitism in Bangladesh civil service

Conclusion

Elitism

The exercise of Elitism in Bangladesh Civil Servicefrom Theoretical and Functional Perspective

Introduction:

From ancient era to now our world is divided into twogroups-the dominating group and the dominated group.The dominating group is powerful, wealthy and minor onthe other side the dominated group is powerless, poorbut major in number. We called the dominating group‘Elite’. It is said that elites works to govern thestate and to develop the society. If they don’t workproperly then our society’s total development will nothappen. But how much truth is in there? The elites of acountry were supposed to help or serve the generalpeople. Are they really doing it? Here we will try tofind about this.

Definition:

In general words we can say the people who directly orindirectly influence on policy making and to run agovernment is called elite. Inpolitical and sociological theory, elite is a smallgroup of people who control a disproportionate amountof wealth or political power.

C. Wright Mills wrote in his 1957 book The Power Elite ofthe "elite" as: "those political, economic, andmilitary circles, which as an intricate set ofoverlapping small but dominant groups share decisionshaving at least national consequences. Insofar as

national events are decided, the power elite are thosewho decide them"

T.B. Bottomore said that, “Functional mainlyoccupational group which have high status in thesociety.”

Vilfredo Pareto said in his book “The minds of elite”that who are minority in number in a society possessesall quality to influence and enjoy the social &political power.

Gytano Mosco said that it is inevitable that anorganized minority class will stood out its dominanceover and unorganized majority. This organized minorityis the elite class.

Some synonyms for "elite" might be "upper-class" or"aristocratic," indicating that the individual inquestion has a relatively large degree of control overa society's means of production. This includes thosewho gain this position due to socioeconomic means andnot personal achievement. However, these terms aremisleading when discussing elitism as a politicaltheory, because they are often associated with negative"class" connotations and fail to appreciate a moreunbiased exploration of the philosophy

Types of elite:There are some types of elite like- -Political elite

-Cultural elite -Religious elite -Industrial elite -Social elite -Labour elite

Elite theory:In political science and sociology, elite theory is atheory of the state which seeks to describe and explainthe power relationships in contemporary society. Thetheory posits that a small minority, consisting ofmembers of the economic elite and policy-planningnetworks, holds the most power and that this power isindependent of a state's democratic elections process.

Classical elite theory:

The aristocratic version of this theory is theclassical elite theory which is based on two ideas:

1.Power lies in position of authority in key economicand political institutions.

2.The psychological difference that sets elites apartis that they have personal resources, for instanceintelligence and skills, and a vested interest inthe government; while the rest are incompetent anddo not have the capabilities of governingthemselves, the elite are resourceful and willstrive to make the government work. For in reality,the elite have the most to lose in a failedgovernment.

There are some theorist who gave theories on elitism;here we are going to discuss some of the maintheorist’s theory. They are-

1. Vilfredo Pareto’s elite theory

2. Gytano Mosca’s elite theory and

3. Robert Michel’s elite theory

1) Vilfredo Pareto’s Elite Theory:

Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto (born in 15 July 1848 –19 August 1923) was anItalian engineer, sociologist, economist, politicalscientist, and philosopher. He made several importantcontributions to economics, particularly in the studyof income distribution and in the analysis ofindividuals' choices. He was also responsible forpopularising the use of the term "elite" in socialanalysis.It is a basic axiom for Pareto that people are unequalphysically, as well as intellectually and morally.In society as a whole, and in any of its particularstrata and groupings, some people are more gifted thanothers. Those who are most capable in any particulargrouping are the elite. In his book named “The Mind andSociety” he said about elite that, every person in thisworld are not same in ethical, intellectual andphysical way. The persons who are capable of thesequalities are called elite and those who are not arethe non-elite.

Vilfredo Pareto showed two classes-

The term elite have no moral or honorific connotationsin Pareto's usage. It denotes simply "a class of thepeople who have the highest indices in their branch ofactivity." Pareto argues that "It will help if wefurther divide that [elite] class into two classes:

a governing elite, comprising individuals who directlyor indirectly play some considerable part ingovernment, and a non- governing elite, comprising therest."

i) Higher classii) Lower class (Non-elite)

a) Governing elite b) Non-Governing elite

Population

Superior eliteLower elite

Governing elite Non-Governing elite

So here we see that Pareto first gave two classes ofsociety one is the higher class and another ne is lowerclass. Lower class can never be the elite so they arenon-elite. Again there is two dividation in higherclass one is governing elite another is non-governing

elite. That means in higher class not everyone governsthe society. Only some individuals, who capture somequalities, govern the society. Pareto said that thosewho are directly involve to govern the country, theyare governing elite and those who are not directlyinvolve are the non- governing elite. His maindiscussion focuses on the governing elite.

Circulation of Elite:

Pareto said Governing elite can never capture the powerfor lifetime. After some time he lost the capabilitiesof elite. On the other side if the non-governing eliteearn the capabilities of governing elite then he canalso take the place. This transformation or the up &down is called circulation of elite. This process runsamong the elite class, the general or the lower classcannot be part of this circulation. It is a one kind ofstrategy of elite so that the power will always be inelite class hand.

But there comes a time when governing elite and non-governing elite both lost their eligibility, and thencomes the third party. It can come through revolutionor other way. If the circulation doesn’t happen theelitism became limited, means only one party capturethe power and the whole system. So circulation ofelitism is very much needed.

Criticism:

There are some criticisms of Vilfredo Pareto’s elitetheory-

Pareto didn’t co-ordinate his elite theory withsocial structure. There is a impact of society whencirculation of elite happens.

There is no relationship of Pareto’s elitism withthe modern democracy.

Pareto said that governing elite can capture thepower as long as they want, it is a kind ofautocracy which he didn’t mention.

2) Gaetano Mosca’s Elite Theory:

Gaetano Mosca (born in April 1, 1858 died in November 81941) was an Italian politicalscientist, journalist and public servant. He iscredited with developing the Theory of Elitism and thedoctrine of the Political class and is one of the threemembers constituting the Italian School of Elitists togetherwith Vilfredo Pareto and Robert Michels.

Mosca emphasized the sociological and personalcharacteristics of elites. He said elites are anorganized minority and that the masses are anunorganized majority. The ruling class is composed ofthe ruling elite and the sub-elites.

He divides the world into two groups:

1.Ruling class

2.Class that is ruled or Non- ruling class

Mosca asserts that elites have intellectual, moral, andmaterial superiority that is highly esteemed andinfluential. Ruling class rule through force and power,they are organized because they are minor in number. Onthe other side the ruled class is heterogeneous so theyare disorganized.

Differentiation between Ruling class and Non-Rulingclass:

a) Ruling class is few in number but organized, on theother hand non-ruling class are disorganized.

b) Ruling class performs all kind of administrative andpolitical function and non-ruling class are directed bythe ruling class.

c) Ruling class enjoys the power on the other side non-ruling class don’t have any power.

d) Ruling class got all advantages of the state butnon-ruling class don’t even know what are their rightsfrom society.

e) Ruling class has participation in decision making onthe other hand non-ruling class have no participationin anything.

This was Gaetano Mosca’s theory of elitism.

3) Robert Michel’s Elite Theory:

Robert Michels (9 January 1876, Cologne, Germany 3 May1936, Rome, Italy) was a German sociologist who wroteon the political behaviour of intellectual elites andcontributed to elite theory. He is best known for hisbook Political Parties, published in 1911, which contains adescription of the "iron law of oligarchy."

Sociologist Michels developed the iron law ofoligarchy where, he asserts, social and politicalorganizations are run by few individuals, and socialorganization and labor division are key. He believedthat all organizations were elitist and that eliteshave three basic principles that help in thebureaucratic structure of political organization:

i. Need for leaders, specialized staff and facilities

ii. Utilization of facilities by leaders within theirorganization

iii. The importance of the psychological attributesof the leaders

Michels worked on social structure and he gave twoclasses of human structure. They are-

a) Conservative

b) Rest of the general people

The conservative class capture the power so tightlythat other people can’t come forward. This situation iscalled the Iron law of Oligarchy. All the politicalparties are organized oligarchy. He also mentioned that

the leaders don’t hold the power because they arecapable of that; they hold it because of theirfollowers are weak. There are two reasons behind it-

i) Technical

ii) Psychological

i) Technical:

Like other organizations political parties have lots ofmembers. So there is co-ordinating problem. the mainfunctions of an organization are done by thespecialized group, the general member stays behind totake responsibilities. So some particular people do thework and professionalism mentality develops in him thengeneral people lost the right of their voice.

ii) Psychological:

Majority of people are reluctant and idle. They areneither capable of selecting responsible government nortake responsibilities. So as a result elite took thepower. They manipulate people by their smartpersonality and presentation. Thus exploit them andwhen the limit crosses the general people call for arevolution. After the revolution new leader come andafter some time he also became the same and the circlegoes on and on.

It was Robert Michesl’s elite theory.

These are some of the theories given by some greattheorist about elite class. What we came to know is

that elite class always tries to dominate the generalor non ruling class. This creates problem in thesociety, as we want an equal society. But if thiscontinues to happen equal society will be dream.

Role of Elites:

The elite class definitely have some role to play in asociety. Like-

Elite helps to transform traditional societies. Building up social and political institutions Elite helps to expand economic development Modernizing the native states Intellectual elites help in creation of the

political life of the developing countries.

The exercise of Elitism in Bangladesh:

What type of elites is there in Bangladesh? How theycome and capture the power? Here we are going to seethe elitism in Bangladesh-

Emergence of elites:

Bangladesh is in Southern Asia, bordering India andBurma and the Bay of Bengal. The country is denselypopulated, highly traditional and agrarian, with a thinveneer of modernity. It has a small urban elite andrudimentary political culture. Compared with otherdeveloping countries, Bangladesh is religiously,linguistically, and socially homogeneous. Of apopulation of 127,567,000 (1998 estimate), 98 per centare Bengalis, with small minorities of indigenous

group. During the British colonial period, zamindarscontrolled huge estates as if they were their personalkingdoms. With the abolition of zamindar tenure in1950, a new local elite of rich Muslim peasantsdeveloped. The members of the new elite owned far lessland than the zamindars had once possessed, but theywere able to feed their families well, sell surplusproduce, send their children to school and than forhigher education, and form new links with thebureaucracy of East Pakistan and later Bangladesh. Inthe colonial and Pakistani periods, local leaders wereold men, but the trend since independence is foryounger men to head factions as well. The heart of thelocal elder's authority is his control over land andthe ability to provide land or employment to poorervillagers, who are often his kin. Land control may bean ancient prerogative, stretching back to thezamindars, or it may be the result of gradual purchasessince independence. These elders with their influentialstatus based on financial solvency and seniorityadvantage remained as rural elites with a kinship withtheir younger generation, who are the highly educatedsegment of the society, settled in metropolitan areasand also in some instances been able to positioningthemselves in international arenas. One of theoutstanding characteristics of the urban leadership isits relatively short history. In the late 1980s, it wasclear that many had emerged from middle‐class or richpeasant backgrounds since 1947 or, in many cases, since1971. Most retained close links with their ruralrelatives, either locally or elsewhere. Urban elitesincluded professional politicians of national parties,and the entire social group that made up the urbanleadership‐‐military, professional, administrative,

religious, and business personnel—who are directly orindirectly in a position of influencing the nationalpolitics and in terms accountable for socio‐economicmovement of the nation.

We will get another perspective of the origin of theurban elites, cited by Naomi Hossain in her IDS workingpaper 83,

which says; 'A very small educated elite, connected byfamily and friendship, tends to dominate the decision‐making process in Bangladesh' (cited in Lewis, Sobhanand Jonsson 1994: 17). Even the most casual ofobservations confirms the existence of a small andtightly‐knit network of prominent people. Within ourown sample we discovered that there were three siblingswhom we had not initially known to be related to eachother: a senior politician, a prominent academic, and acivil servant. 'Everyone knows everyone here' is aphrase commonly used by the elite to describe thiscircle. This is an elite group highly concentrated inone city, Dhaka, and with relatively weak rural ties(sees Siddiqui et al 1991; Khan et al 1996). Inaddition to the close-knit nature of this group, manyof the elite circulate between elite professionalgroups. Khan et al (1996) note that 70% of their sampleof political elites were in business, with the highestconcentration in the two major parties. As we foundduring our interviews, a member of the elite may be aformer minister, a former civil servant, a publishedacademic, and a journalist. An MP could also own amagazine, a manufacturing concern, and an NGO orcharity organization, while being a member of thesocial elite……….’

Different types of elite in Bangladesh:

1) Business Elites:

Business elites are the major influential group withimmense economic contribution to the national economyin a developing country like Bangladesh, and in a wayhaving the power of manipulating the socio‐politicalagendas of the nation. Though the business elites arevery much aware of the interdependence of social groupsand realize that the elite are, to some extent,responsible for the poor, still they use these as atool to secure their respect & position in the society,doing very little for the poor or the dependent socialgroups, in contrast to their enormous ability. Theirpossessed wealth is access to material resources, inthe form of natural resources, capital (money) andcredit. This Business Elites being blessed withfortunes is not sincerely concern about the socio‐economic development as they maintain their concern ingoverning national policies up to their own need‐baseonly. Either to get nominations from the politicalparties as a status quo or to influence policymakers infavor of their business gain.

2) Political Elites:

Since Independence in 1971, Bangladesh politics is thebifurcation of two distinct political hemispheres: Bothof them originated from family inheritance only,claiming their identity as Political elites. The

favoritism of the majority citizens towards theseleaders is mostly based on trust. They put their truston the political elites upon the commitments made bythe leaders and the philanthropy works shown to portraytheir benevolent and compassionate personality. Thecitizens take them to the governing power of thenation. Afterwards, being elected these PoliticalElites fail to bring a good governance and gooddemocracy which is the basic necessity for economicdevelopment. Political affiliation of the governmentadministration has transported, reduced independence ofthe judiciary; failure of Parliament committees toensure accountability of the ministries and alsoineffective system of making public servantsaccountable to citizens. This is due to absence ofpatriotism and strong political will along with pettyparty interests, politicization of public institutions,non cooperation among political parties in power andopposition and so on. On the other hand the non‐governing political elites focus on finding the wrongsteps of the ruling party without proposing anymitigation plans or corrective measures. The rulingparty remains more busy with confronting oppositionone, so does the opposition party. Facing confrontationand retorting it from both position and oppositionbecomes the main feature of the political arena, andthat leaves a very narrow scope for a vibrant civilsociety to emerge for the need of economic stability.

3) Professional Elites:

The Professional elites in private sectors arecontributing towards economy from their respectivefield of expertise by considerably taking part in humancapital development and also directly contributing tothe revenue of the nation as sincere tax payers. Thisgroup does not accord poverty as a high priority on thenational development agenda, nor do they view directpoverty alleviation as the responsibility of the state.Like the Business elites the professional elites alsothink, this should be conducted within the framework ofpersonal charity or 'civil society' (including NGOs).The redistribution of assets does not also seem to themas a significant role in reducing poverty and in termscreating a sustainable and balanced economy. On theother side, the Bureaucrats are mostly tainted bypartisan influence. It is very unfortunate that thisPublic Service Commission sectors in Bangladesh aremostly divided in political line and serve the interestof the political parties.

The central role played by professional elites in thedefinition of the moral orders of the profession and inthe construction of professional ideologies. The moralorder of the professions, defined and enforced by theelites, does not reflect the interest of all segmentsof professions; rather it serves to enhance thedominant position and interest of the elite itself.Through their control of the major professionalassociations, elite groups have been able to impose

their definition of the profession on the occupationalcollectively as a whole.

4) Educational Elites:

In Bangladesh socio‐economic culture the educationalelites are very highly honoured but are very lowlyconsidered in influencing national policy dynamics. Auniversity professor, being an intellectual, shouldenjoy enough prestige more than, or at least similarto, a political leader. But here, his intellectualcapability and leadership role in the intellectualmilieu is bogged down unless he subscribes to or issubmerged in a particular political party. He cannotdictate, but unfortunately is dictated by, politics andits elites; though in most cases the professor himselfis more capable than the political leader. Thus theEducational elites are very rarely allowed to standsout with access to governing authority in nationalpolicy implementation level.

Exercise of elitism in Bangladesh civil service:

Bureaucracy of Bangladesh inherits orientation fromBritish colonial rule where hierarchic administrativesystem maintained. One of the prominent scholars inthis arena, Zafarullah precisely analyzes theorientation of bureaucracy of Bangladesh, “Its[bureaucracy] roots lie in the Civil Service ofPakistan (CSP), which itself had its origins in theIndian Civil Service (ICS) -the ‘steel-frame’ of

British colonial rule. Like its forebears, it largelyconforms to the structural attributes of the Weberianbureaucratic model” (Zafarullah, H. 2007).

Administrative culture in Bangladesh is subsequentlycharacterized as bureaucratic elitism where publicofficials maintain horizontal integration and strictlyadheres to the principles of self-interest and advanceon career ladder. As distinct special social group,they utilize their expertise, specialization andprofessionalism in the governing process with profoundautonomy. Because of inefficiencies of politicians ongovernance matter, public officials tend to haveenormous dominance on policy making and accomplishingpolicy goals. The higher civil bureaucracies -thegeneralist administrators, in particular -havemanifested a remarkable resilience even under changingsocial and political conditions to maintain their‘supreme’ status in state and society. The prestige,social esteem, influence, authority and permanency oftenure that a position in the prime civil servicecarries provided the impetus for elitism to furtherendure in bureaucracies.

The theories we read previously is totally correct forBangladesh civil service. Because the civil servantsare recruited to serve the general people but inreality we see that they show their attitude, demand.They don’t go and meet people, if they are in generalplace they always show their attitude. They think that

what are they doing for people is kind of mercy ofthem, if they won’t do these things people will die orface problems. So they try to dominate them always. Nogeneral people can meet them they have to go throughsome channels because civil servants created a shieldor wall so that no lower class or lower elite can meetthem. General people are afraid of them, because theyshow their power and try to dominate them. So we cansay what we studied in those theories ae absolutelycorrect for Bangladeshi civil servants.

In nutshell, prevalent administrative culture ofBangladesh does not adequately maintain the appropriatecultural orientation and requirement, which isnecessary to provide quality services. It does notmotivate people through close, warm and trustingrelationships to get benefits and service fromgovernment. Therefore, administrative culture ofBangladesh might be characterized as desk-bound,meetings-orientated and operated in an atmosphere ofinspection and inhibition. In addition, theadministrative culture of Bangladesh is not open,honest, and flexible, where people can hardly get easyaccess into information and service.

Conclusion:

The Elites are always in an advantageous situation inevery society with their prominence and lofty economicand political status drawing envy and resentment fromthe lower classes and the counter‐elite. Elites think

that they are very much powerful so that they can doanything but that’s not the fact. Now a day’sGovernment is trying to create equal facilities foreveryone so if the civil servants don’t come forwardthen this dream will never come true. As a developingcountry Bangladesh has lots of opportunities to developbut if the civil servants don’t change their elitementality then everything will go vain. They arerecruited to help general people not to threaten orfrighten them, so Government has to be careful that noone can misuse their power.

Lisa Maria RahmanM.S.SRoll No: 01103013 Session: 2011-2012Department of Public AdministrationComilla University

References

1. Social Change and Political Development byDr. Md Abdul Odud Bhuiyan, published by AziziaBook Dipo, publishing date May,2001. P.no-113

2. The Role of Elites in Economic Development TheReality of Bangladesh,

By Kishwar Sultana Director & Researcher, Institute of Hazrat Mohammad SAW, published in February 2009.

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_theory