Elites and People: Challenges to Democracy

The past decade has been a period of severe crises centred in the West but with significant repercussions for the rest of the world: the financial crisis, euro crisis, populist resurgence, immigration crisis, gender revolt, cracks in the European Union and dramatic backlash against the Arab Spring. All of these crises have involved elites in various ways and raised questions about the roles of elites in existing forms of social and political governance. Although these issues have significant transnational aspects, crucial differences among them also exist due to national variations in institutions and socio-political traditions. To avoid facile generalisations, thorough comparative studies are crucial.