History is a graveyard of aristocracies.
“The history of man is the history of the continuous replacement of certain elites: as one ascends, another declines.”
“The new elite which seeks to supersede the old one, or merely to share its power and honors, does not admit to such an intention frankly and openly.”
“Assume that the new elite were clearly and simply to proclaim its intentions which are to supplant the old elite; no one would come to its assistance, it would be defeated before having fought a battle. On the contrary, it appears to be asking nothing for itself, well knowing that without asking anything in advance it will obtain what it wants as a consequence of its victory.”
An analysis of how ruling elites gain, maintain and lose power, and how new groups replace declining elites.
A wide-ranging study of social behaviour, examining non-logical action, belief, elite rule, political change and the forces sustaining social systems.