The Icelandic power structure revisited
Political scientists have developed three main interpretations of the Icelandic power structure – namely, traditional elitism, competitive elitism and professional pluralism. These can be seen to some extent as successive regimes, with traditional elitism prevalent in the nineteenth century, competi...
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Stofnun stjórnsýslufræða og stjórnmála við Háskóla Íslands
2018
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/781 https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2018.14.1.1 |
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ftopinvisindi:oai:opinvisindi.is:20.500.11815/781 2023-05-15T16:50:53+02:00 The Icelandic power structure revisited Kristinsson, Gunnar Helgi Stjórnmálafræðideild (HÍ) Faculty of Political Science (UI) Félagsvísindasvið (HÍ) School of Social Sciences (UI) Háskóli Íslands University of Iceland 2018-05-30 1-34 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/781 https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2018.14.1.1 en eng Stofnun stjórnsýslufræða og stjórnmála við Háskóla Íslands Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla;14(1) 1670-6803 1670-679X (eISSN) https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/781 Icelandic Review of Politics & Administration Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla doi:10.13177/irpa.a.2018.14.1.1 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Power structure Elites Iceland Vald Stjórnunarhættir Þjóðfélagsstéttir info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2018 ftopinvisindi https://doi.org/20.500.11815/781 https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2018.14.1.1 2022-11-18T06:51:38Z Political scientists have developed three main interpretations of the Icelandic power structure – namely, traditional elitism, competitive elitism and professional pluralism. These can be seen to some extent as successive regimes, with traditional elitism prevalent in the nineteenth century, competitive elitism for much of the twentieth century and professional pluralism in more recent decades. However, their relative strength at different times, and the extent to which they still predominate, remains uncertain. This article evaluates how the different models reflect on the position of the political elite over time and how helpful they are in understanding contemporary power structures. Data on the composition of the political elite on one hand, and eight contemporary elite groups on the other are analysed in order to evaluate elite openness, elite selection and network patterns. The results provide support for conventional interpretations, in that competitive elitism replaced traditional elitism in important respects during the twentieth century, but has itself been replaced in many respects by professional pluralism. Accordingly, professional pluralism is characteristic of the contemporary power structure, with relatively open access to elite groups, strong influence of meritocratic and professional criteria and network patterns which are concentrated within, rather than across, spheres of influence. Remnants of traditional elite privilege and competitive elitism, where political parties play a central role, can be found in a number of areas, and professional pluralism has important elitist features. Peer Reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Opin vísindi (Iceland) Veftímaritið Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla 14 1 1 34 |
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Opin vísindi (Iceland) |
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English |
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Power structure Elites Iceland Vald Stjórnunarhættir Þjóðfélagsstéttir |
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Power structure Elites Iceland Vald Stjórnunarhættir Þjóðfélagsstéttir Kristinsson, Gunnar Helgi The Icelandic power structure revisited |
topic_facet |
Power structure Elites Iceland Vald Stjórnunarhættir Þjóðfélagsstéttir |
description |
Political scientists have developed three main interpretations of the Icelandic power structure – namely, traditional elitism, competitive elitism and professional pluralism. These can be seen to some extent as successive regimes, with traditional elitism prevalent in the nineteenth century, competitive elitism for much of the twentieth century and professional pluralism in more recent decades. However, their relative strength at different times, and the extent to which they still predominate, remains uncertain. This article evaluates how the different models reflect on the position of the political elite over time and how helpful they are in understanding contemporary power structures. Data on the composition of the political elite on one hand, and eight contemporary elite groups on the other are analysed in order to evaluate elite openness, elite selection and network patterns. The results provide support for conventional interpretations, in that competitive elitism replaced traditional elitism in important respects during the twentieth century, but has itself been replaced in many respects by professional pluralism. Accordingly, professional pluralism is characteristic of the contemporary power structure, with relatively open access to elite groups, strong influence of meritocratic and professional criteria and network patterns which are concentrated within, rather than across, spheres of influence. Remnants of traditional elite privilege and competitive elitism, where political parties play a central role, can be found in a number of areas, and professional pluralism has important elitist features. Peer Reviewed |
author2 |
Stjórnmálafræðideild (HÍ) Faculty of Political Science (UI) Félagsvísindasvið (HÍ) School of Social Sciences (UI) Háskóli Íslands University of Iceland |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kristinsson, Gunnar Helgi |
author_facet |
Kristinsson, Gunnar Helgi |
author_sort |
Kristinsson, Gunnar Helgi |
title |
The Icelandic power structure revisited |
title_short |
The Icelandic power structure revisited |
title_full |
The Icelandic power structure revisited |
title_fullStr |
The Icelandic power structure revisited |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Icelandic power structure revisited |
title_sort |
icelandic power structure revisited |
publisher |
Stofnun stjórnsýslufræða og stjórnmála við Háskóla Íslands |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/781 https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2018.14.1.1 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla;14(1) 1670-6803 1670-679X (eISSN) https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/781 Icelandic Review of Politics & Administration Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla doi:10.13177/irpa.a.2018.14.1.1 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.11815/781 https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2018.14.1.1 |
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Veftímaritið Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla |
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14 |
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1 |
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1 |
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34 |
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1766040999192166400 |