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The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Most of my recent work comes back in one way or another to the question of whether democracy has a future..." (more)
Key Phrases: symbolic analysts, civic arts, New York, United States, Horace Mann (more...)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Customers buy this book with The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations by Christopher Lasch

The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy + The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cultural critic Lasch, who passed away before this book was published, argues that American democracy is withering in the hands of professional and managerial elites who lack a sense of social and civic values.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal

If you don't think that democracies are being threatened from without by benevolent dictatorships, then maybe you'll agree that they are being threatened from within by self-serving elites. From the author of the best-selling The Culture of Narcissism (LJ 4/15/78), who completed this work shortly before his death.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. (January 17, 1996)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0393313719
  • ISBN-13: 978-0393313710
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #89,323 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #33 in  Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Political Science > Political Doctrines > Democracy
    #38 in  Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Sociology > Class
    #62 in  Books > Nonfiction > Government > Democracy

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62 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A sobering look at democracy in the New Economy, December 22, 2000
In "the Revolt of the Elites" Christoper Lasch powerfully and persuasively contends that that the values and attitudes of professional and managerial elites and those of the working classes have dramatically diverged. Although the claim is controverted, many of us on the right (especially social conservatives) agree with the quasi-populist/communitarian notion that democracy works best when all members of society can participate in a world of upward mobility and of achievable status. In such a world, members of society will perceive themselves as belonging to the same team and care about ensuring that that team succeeds. But how can society achieve this sort of mutual interdependence if its members are not part of a community of shared values? As Christopher Lasch explains: "[T]he new elites, the professional classes in particular, regard the masses with mingled scorn and apprehension." For too many of these elites, the values of "Middle America" - a/k/a "fly-over country" - are mindless patriotism, religious fundamentalism, racism, homophobia, and retrograde views of women. "Middle Americans, as they appear to the makers of educated opinion, are hopelessly shabby, unfashionable, and provincial, ill informed about changes in taste or intellectual trends, addicted to trashy novels of romance and adventure, and stupefied by prolonged exposure to television. They are at once absurd and vaguely menacing." (28)

The tension between elite and non-elite attitudes is most pronounced with respect to religious belief. While our society admittedly is increasingly pluralistic, "the democratic reality, even, if you will, the raw demographic reality," as Father Neuhaus has observed, "is that most Americans derive their values and visions from the biblical tradition." Yet, Lasch points out, elite attitudes towards religion are increasingly hostile: "A skeptical, iconoclastic state of mind is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the knowledge classes. ... The elites' attitude to religion ranges from indifference to active hostility." (215)

Lash claims that the divergence in elite and non-elite attitudes is troubling for the future of democracy. Its hard for me to gainsay him. Yet, while "The Revolt of the Elites" is sobering - even a tad depressing - it deserves to be read even more widely than it has been. Lasch is no partisan. Conservative proponents of unfettered capitalism get bashed about the head by Lasch just as much as liberal critics of capitalism. Populists will find themselves nodding in agreement with some sections, while communitarians will concur with other sections. About the only folks who will be offended by all of "The Revolt of the Elites" are hardened libertarians and extreme left-liberals. Highly recommended.

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26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars PROVOCATIVE INSIGHTS ABOUT THE WORKINGS OF MODERN DEMOCRACY, June 20, 2002
By Luciano Lupini (Caracas Venezuela) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book is very interesting and provocative. Nobody seriously interested in political science, the structure of society and government, the need to reassess democracy and reconsider the roles of pressure groups, should overlook this last contribution by professor Lash.
According to the author, modern democracy is not only challenged by the masses (as Ortega y Gasset stated in its Revolt of the Masses), but also, and mostly, by the elites. Modern elites are not anymore connected with their geographical and social background and roots, they have a global vision and ambition, and do not accept any constraints and limits in the pursuance of their egotistical interests, which are basically money oriented. It is now common for the leaders and members of the ruling meritocracy to base self esteem upon success, material success, and to downplay humanistic ideals such as respect and tolerance.
The ideas and perceptions of Lash must provoke serious rethinking about the effective level of "democraticity" of the modern political structure, and the remedies that have to be conceived to ensure a truly democratic participation of the citizens in the exercise or control of power and government.
I would suggest that this book has to be accompanied by other works on the subject of democracy and elitism, in order to appreciate the dangers and pitfalls of the transformation and "materialization" of the values of the elites, and its overall effect upon the system analyzed by Lash. So read this book, but also the classic works by Robert Michels and Maurice Duverger about political parties, elites and pressure groups. Also, the book by Vilfredo Pareto "The rise and the fall of Elites" and the recent "Democracy and its critics" by Robert Dahl. You will then understand better this caveat by professor Lash, within the context of modern democracy.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Modern Reply to Ortega y Gasset, October 1, 2004
By Jeffrey Morseburg (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews
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Christopher Lasch (1932-1994) was a historian and penetrating social critic. In his articles, essays and books, he challenged everyone - modern liberals and conservatives as well as the leftist and academic elite. While one did not have to agree with his conclusions, he was a man who always asked questions that needed to be answered, and raised issues that needed to be confronted. Politically, Lasch could probably be best described as a New Deal liberal, for he was very suspicious of both unfettered consumer capitalism and the rise of the New Left, whose goals and views he felt were in direct opposition to American values. He could also be described as a "thoughtful declinist" but one who always held out hope for the future.
In this book, Lasch's the last one published during the author's lifetime, he argued that America was not in danger from the "Revolt of the Masses" which was the title of Jose Ortega y Gasset's landmark book which was written in 1932, in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution and the rise of Fascism, but that we are threatened by a "Revolt of the Elites." In 1994, Lasch had come to believe that the economic and cultural elite of the United States, who historically has insured the continuity of a culture, had lost faith in the traditional values that had animated and organized our culture since its inception. He saw a threat to the continuation of western civilization was not a mass revolt as envisioned by the pro-communist New Left of the 1960's, but a rejection of its liberal and pluralistic values by the educated elite that run its institutions and educate its children. Lasch's last question was an important one: can a society survive when a significant portion of its elite have forsaken its founding principles?

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking book
A book to make you reflect and think about what went wrong in America and how to fix it. This book is great food for enlightened conversation.
Published on August 28, 2006 by z

2.0 out of 5 stars Lasch and Ortega y Gasset
Having read both _The Revolt of the Elites_ recently and _The Revolt of the Masses_ several times, I am struck by previous reviewers contrasts and apparent misreadings. Read more
Published on July 31, 2006 by Mordikai Crump

3.0 out of 5 stars The failure of ideology
In this his last book, Christopher Lasch, as so many conservative readers observe in these reviews, identifies a cultural "elite" whose scorn for all things middle American is the... Read more
Published on July 6, 2006 by James E. Jerdon

5.0 out of 5 stars The Revolt of the Elites.
_The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy_ by historian and sociologist Christopher Lasch is an interesting account of the situation we find ourselves in today... Read more
Published on March 6, 2006 by New Age of Barbarism

4.0 out of 5 stars Elites Revot and are Revolting
The aristocratic elitism of modern society's version of royalty--well-educated liberals, university administrators, race and class baiters and political elites who fear... Read more
Published on May 28, 2003 by caroline miranda

3.0 out of 5 stars a review of THE REVOLT OF THE ELITES
This is a rather disappointing work. It was the last work written by Christopher Lasch. Similar to earlier works it is a broad criticism of modern society. Read more
Published on January 19, 2002 by Frank Werner

5.0 out of 5 stars Growing disconnectedness based on social-class
The Revolt of the Elites articulates the growing disonnectedness between the social classes in the global economy. Lasch's work, for me, was an extenstion of Robert B. Read more
Published on October 10, 2000 by Patrick W. O'Hara

1.0 out of 5 stars Lasch's chest-beating is mostly worthless.
Christopher Lasch just doesn't get it. The machine age is over, and production (of any kind) is predominantly information-based. Read more
Published on July 11, 2000 by Woody Patterson

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Books of the Decade
This was the first book by Christopher Lasch that I had read. I have started a more complete reading of his works. The title is a profoundly important one. Read more
Published on June 27, 2000

3.0 out of 5 stars BENEFIT OF THE NATION RATHER THAN INDIVIDUAL
In this book 'The Revolt of the Elites and The Betrayal of Democracy'Lasch is taking a critical look at democracy. Read more
Published on March 28, 2000 by Shubhada Bhatt

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