The American Corporate Elite in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract In recent years, a debate has arisen among social scientists regarding the character of contemporary societal elites. Proponents of an approach known as the “fracturing” thesis have argued that elites in North America and Europe have become increasingly fragmented in recent years, rendering them largely incapable of unified political action. Critics of this view have suggested that elites have remained primarily unified, as they were in the mid-twentieth century. This chapter describes the basis of the fracturing thesis and presents four primary criticisms that have been raised against it. It argues that although the criticisms are plausible, the evidence for them is insufficient to undermine the fracturing argument. The chapter concludes by discussing some of the limitations of the fracturing thesis, as well as the relevance of the debate to our understanding of contemporary elites.