The Sociology of Political Elites in France: The End of an Exception?

Abstract

This article presents the position of, and debates within, French elite sociology today. The analysis stresses the reasons for the field’s weak development, and discusses current debates about politicians (politics as profession versus political savoir-faire) and about the relationship between elites and the state (their role as custodians of the state). The author underlines the dilemmas stemming from these debates, points out the three directions (the comparative approach, the historical approach, and the policy-making approach) that French neoelitism has taken, and suggests the need for a cognitive framework permitting the study of elite action within the decision-making process in order to improve empirical observation of how new power elites are formed.