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Marx or Mosca? An inquiry into the foundations of ideocratic regimes
Marx oder Mosca? Eine empirische Untersuchung der Fundamente ideokratischer Regime
[journal article]
Abstract "In John Higley's and Michael Burton's taxonomy of elite settings, 'ideocratic elites' are represented by regimes of the Soviet type. These regimes based their rule on an egalitarian ideology that legitimized inequalities as temporary abnormalities. According to Marx the abolition of private ownersh... view more
"In John Higley's and Michael Burton's taxonomy of elite settings, 'ideocratic elites' are represented by regimes of the Soviet type. These regimes based their rule on an egalitarian ideology that legitimized inequalities as temporary abnormalities. According to Marx the abolition of private ownership of the means of production would ultimately lead to a classless society. Gaetano Mosca questioned this claim and argued that families would maintain and even strengthen their function in producing and reproducing a 'ruling class' (tantamount to the elite concept) in communist regimes. The present contribution examines these claims on the basis of GDR's Central Cadres Database. Comprehensive empirical evidence is provided supporting Mosca' s claim of a persistent impact of families in the formation and reproduction of communist elites." (author's abstract)... view less
Keywords
GDR research; post-war society; political regime; reproduction; elite research; class society; historical development; sociological theory; social inequality; theory of society; cadre; data bank; Socialist Unity Party of Germany (GDR); social science; private property; National Socialist German Workers' Party; elite; Marx, K.; theory; communism; theory formation
Classification
General History
General Concepts, Major Hypotheses and Major Theories in the Social Sciences
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Method
empirical; theory formation; quantitative empirical; historical; basic research
Document language
English
Publication Year
2012
Page/Pages
p. 73-89
Journal
Historical Social Research, 37 (2012) 1
Issue topic
Elite foundations of social theory and politics / Elitetheoretische Grundlagen sozialwissenschaftlicher Theoriebildung und politischer Analyse
DOI
https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.37.2012.1.73-89
ISSN
0172-6404
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed