Pareto argues that groups seeking political power rarely present their ambitions simply as a struggle for influence or privilege. Instead, he says, a rising elite tends to justify its challenge in broader terms, presenting itself as the representative of oppressed groups or of society as a whole.

Within Pareto’s theory, this public language helps a new elite build alliances and legitimacy against an established ruling group. After gaining power, however, the victorious group may pursue its own interests and give former allies less influence than its earlier claims suggested. Pareto illustrates the argument with conflicts between social classes in ancient Rome and with the rise of the European bourgeoisie.

The passage should be understood as Pareto’s general theory of elite competition rather than as a rule applying to every political movement. Its central concern is the relationship between political interests, public justification and changes in who holds power.

Full quotation

“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. Instead it assumes the leadership of all the oppressed, declares that it will pursue not its own good but the good of the many; and it goes to battle, not for the rights of a restricted class, but for the rights of almost the entire citizenry. Of course, once victory is won, it subjugates the erstwhile allies, or, at best, offers them some formal concessions. Such is the history of the struggles fought by the plebs and patres in Rome; such is the history of the victory which the bourgeoisie won over the nobility of feudal origin, a victory well noted by modern socialists.”