In the United States, the terms elite or elitist are used by politicians to attack opposition candidates during election campaigns, or opposition members of Congress or Senators during legislative debates. It is also used to disparage the president or members of the executive branch by politicians of the opposing political party.
Though adherents of both political parties utilize this description hoping it will gain them some advantage, currently it is more frequently used by the Republican Party and its Tea Party wing. In the past, it was often invoked by Democratic populists to raise the ire of the common man. This was to make him feel that his voice was not being heard and was applied to the very wealthy in the Republican Party. Now it is generally employed in relation to highly educated individuals, particularly those who attended the most competitive universities. Many of them have also attained one or several advanced degrees and may be considered experts in particular fields.
Whether it is the Republicans or Democrats who are railing against elitists in the government, it is simply a tactic to manipulate ordinary voters and turn them against the rival party. One might ask why elite or elitist has become a derogatory designation for these men and women who are involved in governing us. Don’t we want the brightest men and women and those with special expertise to be running our government and making the decisions that will affect our future? Doesn’t it make sense that these should be the people who are our leaders?
In virtually every other nation, men and women of the elite, who have gone to the best schools and are highly educated, make up the leadership corps of the major political parties and play major roles in running the government. This is true in many developing countries as well as for most of Europe. They want the elite as leaders.
In America, ordinary voters may see the elite as being out of touch, without enough practical experience, and not conversant with their problems. This was highlighted when the first President Bush was surprised by the process of checking out at a grocery counter in 1992 because he had never done it before. And experts in particular areas may be seen as having too narrow a view of the world and be less attuned to the daily lives of working men and women.
The antagonism towards the elite in America may also be derived from many citizens’ belief that they are knowledgeable about the nation’s problems and able to govern themselves as well or better than so-called experts or the highly educated. This conviction goes back to America’s early days and was one of the reasons populist politicians have been intermittently successful.
However, given the complexity of the modern world and the manifold tasks of government in varied areas, Americans should look to experts and the highly educated to direct the process and keep the train of democracy on track. This does not mean that there is uniformity of thinking among the elite about how things should be done and that disagreements will not arise. But hopefully, differences can be settled by rational debate or by compromise to allow government to function effectively, Elite should not be a dirty word or a term of derogation in the United States. Having elite individuals in government indicates that capable leadership is more likely.