Theories of Power — Elite theory and Marxist theory of Power (Specified)

India holds the largest elections on earth, yet the same handful of family names, business houses and party high commands keep reappearing in every decade's list of the powerful. Elite theory says that is not an accident of Indian politics but a law of every organised society; Marxist theory says the names change but the underlying economic class behind them does not. This topic sets the two explanations side by side.

In two minutes

Elite theory argues that every society, democratic or not, is ruled by a small organised minority; the Marxist theory of power argues that whoever holds this ruling position does so because of who controls the means of production.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Political Science – II: Foundations of Political Obligation on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.