America’s Hyperpartisans Are the Real Elites

We Americans disdain “elites.” Our politics is consumed by diatribes against the elites who exist in our midst. Ivy League elites. CEO elites. Bureaucratic elites. The list goes on.

By elites, we typically mean groups that hold two identifying qualities. First, they exercise more power — political, economic, or social — than the average citizen. Second, elites possess a perceived attitude about this power. They seem to perceive a right to their place, a justice to their privilege.

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Adam M. Carrington

Adam M. Carrington is an associate professor of politics at Hillsdale College.

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We Americans disdain “elites.” Our politics is consumed by diatribes against the elites who exist in our midst. Ivy League elites. CEO elites. Bureaucratic elites. The list goes on.

By elites, we typically mean groups that hold two identifying qualities. First, they exercise more power — political, economic, or social — than the average citizen. Second, elites possess a perceived attitude about this power. They seem to perceive a right to their place, a justice to their privilege.