Circulation of elites

The circulation of elites is a theory of régime-change described by Italian sociologist Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923).

According to Pareto, changes of régime, revolutions, and so on occur not when rulers are overthrown from below, but when one elite replaces another. In such transformations, ordinary people function not as initiators or principal actors, but as followers and supporters of one elite or another.

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