The modern elitists in perspective
It would be wrong to exaggerate the novelty of the revival of interest in the state, for as Bob Jessop (1990: 283) has observed, ‘the statists have simply rediscovered themes well known to traditional state theorists and not unknown in more recent pluralist, neo-Marxist and structural-functionalist work’.
Moreover, as Domhoff (1987: 160) notes, the statists simply revisited the work of the radical elitists, who were well aware of the potentially autonomous power of the state. There is thus considerable disagreement amongst commentators as to whether there is a distinctive elitist approach (see, for example, Birch 1993: Ch. 11; and, Dunleavy and O’Leary 1987: Ch. 4). Certainly there has been a great deal of convergence with the distinction between the pluralist, Marxist and elitist positions becoming more blurred as the capitalist state has matured. Nonetheless it is important to note that elitism has always been a broad church. Indeed many theorists have treated Marxist theory as an elitist theory due to its its emphasis upon the state as an instrument for securing ruling class domination (see Birch, 1993: 186).
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