The functions of political elites were born duringformation of the concept. Each such group, consisting of the best and chosen people, exercised control over some sphere of human life. The very identification of a part of society is an unequal distribution of social and natural rights between people. The functions of political elites contribute to the allocation of extraordinary abilities among members of the population, thereby contributing to their elevation. Thus, we can safely identify the ruling circles as a special social group, which, due to the high positions held on the vertical of power, has the maximum level of influence on society.
The structure and functions of the political elite have evolved in the course of various historical processes. As a result, two basic approaches to the consideration of the origin of the ruling groups were formed:
The first is based on the belief thatthe exercise of public management empowers political elites with special rights and functions. The second, in turn, explains the existence of such social groups in terms of their superiority over other representatives of society. To some extent, we can also assume that the political elite is a model of intellectual and moral merit. Unfortunately, at present the reality is that people performing the functions of political elites are corrupt and cynical. Therefore, all of the above allows us to assess the vulnerability of both approaches.
Classification of ruling groups
According to the functions assigned to the authorities, three categories are traditionally singled out: higher, medium and administrative.
The first unites all sorts of politicalleaders and eminent personalities who occupy a sufficiently high position in any branch of government. An example of such persons may be the president, as well as his entourage, leaders of political parties and heads of judicial and executive bodies.
The second includes all those who occupy a high position in various elected bodies. For example, governors, deputies, mayors.
The third is the most general category. This includes all members of the government, as well as some government employees.
The functions of political elites are quite diverseand serve to meet social needs. In addition to the implementation of governance, the ruling group determines the political will of various social strata and regulates the processes of realizing this will, contributes to the formation of the goals of each social group, and also is the place of accumulation of leading cadres, which form a kind of reserve.
