Anglais: essai sur les élites

In modern democracies, is political action reserved for an « elite »?

The current presidential campaign in the United States shed light on what can drag down candidates’ popularity. Indeed, the status of elite can drum up criticisms from citizens. In our societies, there is a desire to promote the possibility for everyone to have access to prestigious activities and decisions, such as political action. But in my view, this is not really possible for the moment, since political action is reserved for an elite.

First, this is true for citizens who want to take decisions for their societies, because they will not really be able to. In the process of a changing the law or the constitution, it is the Parliament who votes and decides at the end. People can be outraged and show it, but they are not always listened to, and even if they are, groups in Parliament or lobbies can hold back the law. For example, in 2010, Icelandic citizens put forward a constitutional reform but at the end it reached a deadlock because of the Parliament’s vote.

Furthermore, all heads of states of modern democracies have studied in the most prestigious and expensive schools. Such schools have allowed them easy access to positions of power. For example, David Cameron has been to Eton, one of the most expensive schools in Great Britain. Thus, if the wealthiest people have the best schools to get into politics, they are consequently setting up an elite into political action.

To conclude, reaching political action is full of hurdles, because when an elite is established, it is difficult for citizens to override it and make their own laws. In addition, they cannot be part of this elite because of inequalities of income.