Elite democracy is a model of representative government that highlights how political influence is often concentrated. It helps explain why participation gaps, resource inequality, and institutional gatekeeping can shape who governs and whose preferences become policy.

Core Idea: Limited Participation, Concentrated Influence

Elite democracy does not claim elections are meaningless; instead, it argues that elections often function as a mechanism for choosing among competing elites rather than as continuous, broad-based popular rule.

What “limited participation” means in practice

Limited participation refers to patterns such as:

This Census Bureau chart compares reported voting rates across age groups, making the participation gap visually explicit. Because older Americans vote at higher rates than younger adults in many elections, the “active electorate” can skew older than the eligible population. That skew helps explain why policy responsiveness may tilt toward groups that participate more consistently. Source

• Lower or uneven voter turnout across groups and elections

• Low rates of attending meetings, contacting officials, or sustained activism

• Reliance on intermediaries (party leaders, donors, consultants, interest networks) to set agendas and frame choices

Who counts as “elites” in this model

Elites are not a single unified group; they are typically overlapping sets of actors with advantages in time, money, organisation, and access, including:

• Major donors and fundraising networks

• Party leaders and political professionals (strategists, consultants)

• Well-resourced advocacy organisations and industry representatives

• High-information, high-participation voters who dominate primaries and local contests

• Influential media figures and policy experts who shape issue framing

How Elites Shape Policy Outcomes

Elite democracy emphasises that political resources are unevenly distributed, so influence tends to follow resources.

This diagram summarizes the four-stage policy process—agenda setting, enactment, implementation, and evaluation—highlighting multiple points where organized actors can shape outcomes. In elite-democracy terms, influence is often greatest upstream (agenda setting and drafting) where expertise and access are concentrated. The figure helps students connect “who participates” to “which policies make it onto the agenda” and how they are carried out. Source

Common mechanisms include:

• Agenda setting: Elites prioritise which issues reach decision-makers and which are sidelined.

• Policy expertise and drafting: Professional staff and organised interests often supply data, model bills, or technical language that becomes the basis of legislation.

• Campaign finance leverage: Candidates may be more responsive to organised funders because campaigns require sustained funding.

• Access and relationships: Regular interaction with officials (meetings, calls, events) creates repeated opportunities to persuade.

Why policy can diverge from broad public preferences

In elite democracy, divergence can occur when:

• Benefits are concentrated for a small group while costs are diffuse for the public

• Issues are complex and low-salience, reducing mass attention and accountability

• The most engaged participants hold preferences that differ from less-active citizens

Leadership Selection: How Elites Help Determine “Who Runs”

Elite democracy also stresses that leadership selection is filtered through institutions and political gatekeepers. Even in competitive elections, elites can shape the candidate pool by:

• Recruiting candidates and discouraging challengers

• Providing endorsements, staff support, and donor connections

• Funding early advertising and name recognition

• Influencing party rules, debate access, and primary strategies

Participation gaps and their consequences

Because participation is unequal, the electorate that selects leaders can be unrepresentative:

• Primary electorates are often smaller and more ideologically intense than general electorates.

• Local elections may be dominated by consistent voters, increasing responsiveness to narrow interests.

• Time and cost barriers can reduce participation for lower-income citizens, shifting influence toward those with flexible schedules and resources.

Evaluating Elite Democracy as a Model

Elite democracy is primarily an explanatory lens for understanding power. It highlights:

• The persistent role of political inequality (resources and access)

• Why policy debates often occur among organised, professionalised actors

• How “consent” can be real but still filtered through elite competition

At the same time, elite influence is not absolute: elites can disagree, fail to anticipate public backlash, or be constrained by elections, law, and institutional rules. The model’s key claim remains that participation is often limited in effect, and outcomes frequently reflect the preferences of a smaller set of politically engaged actors.