Elite paradox

The paradoxical nature of the existence and functioning of power elites is not a new fact. However, it has been the object of few studies. This is due to the ambiguity of the term and of the phenomenon itself,which is described under the name “elite”. This applies equally to the “paradox”. The author, based on the principles of institutional analysis and starting from the theory of structuration and the theory of paradox in its managerial version, studies both concepts and offers an approach to the analysis of the elite paradox. Firstly, the contradictory position of the power elites in the societal system is revealed: being a subsystem, they regulate and direct the functioning of the entire system. Secondly, the multidirectional nature of the system requirements for the elites is studied. Thirdly, the discrepancy perceived by the observer between the expected characteristics and functions (based on ideas about the role of elites in the social system) and those that are actually recorded are considered. These variants represent the modes of the basic structural paradox of the part and the whole. Elites are derivatives of the social order, and they are also active agents in its formation and consolidation of the principles of its functioning. At the same time, elites are forced to go beyond the framework of the normative system they themselves protect. Otherwise, their main function - the stabilization of the system - will not be realized. The poly-role nature of elite individuals and their control of resources can lead to the privatization of power institutions and the realization of group and personal interests to the detriment of public ones. In modern society, the forced openness of the elite leads to a paradox of public intimacy. Elites are doomed to a transborder existence and ambivalent characteristics, primarily moral ones.