Elites and the Working Class: On Coupling, Uncoupling, Democracy, and (In) equalities in the West

In Western capitalist societies, the capitalist class is roughly coterminous with the economic/business elite. Elites coupling with classes, may adopt one of several strategies. They may enter into a monogamous relationship with one class; or they may enter into bigamous or polygamous relations with two or more classes, gaining resources from all of them, and juggling their interests. The coupling between elites and the working class depends on their relative autonomy. Industrialization and urbanization led to the growth of the working class, while the dismal conditions under which it was forced to subsist focused attention on its plight. One achievement of labor movements and unions was the extension of the franchise to the working class. From the late nineteenth century, in most Western countries, the acquisition of the franchise went hand in hand with the emergence of sizable labor/socialist/communist parties.