BRITISH PLANTS: THEIR BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER I RESPUBLICA RES PUBLICA 21 CHAPTER II MAGISTRI REI PUBLICAE 105 CHAPTER III SHAPING SELF AND COMMUNAL IDENTITY 203 CONCLUSIONS 227 INTRODUCTION THE GOVERNING ELITE FOLLOWS ON LIKE A RIVER NEVER BEING TODAY WHAT IT WAS YESTERDAY FROM TIME TO TIME SUDDEN AND VIOLENT DISTURBANCES OCCUR THERE IS A FLOOD THE RIVER OVERFLOWS ITS BANKS AFTERWARDS A NEW GOVERNING ELITE AGAIN RESUMES ITS SLOW TRANSFORMATION IT IS NOT EASY TO WRITE ABOUT THE NOVELTY OF ELITE RESEARCH THAT STARTED ALREADY IN THE 1960S OR TO LINK A LITTLE RESEARCHED AREA TO THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP AND CREATE A BALANCE BETWEEN SOURCES AND ANALOGIES WITHOUT SLIPPING INTO MERE IMITATION NOR IS IT EASY TO CONDUCT THOROUGH PROSOPOGRAPHICAL OR ARCHONTOLOGICAL ANALYSIS WHEN BASIC INVESTIGATIONS SOURCE EDITIONS THAT IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY IN GERMANY FOR INSTANCE OPENED THE WAY FOR MORE COMPLEX URBAN STUDIES ARE MISSING IN THE PRESENT CASE LIKEWISE IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO WRITE ABOUT TRANSYLVANIAN TOWNS FOR AN INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE WHICH IS NOT AWARE OF WHAT IS OBVIOUS AND WHAT IS NOT BUT IT IS CHALLENGING AND IN SPITE OF THE DIFFICULTIES RESEARCH ON THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY TOWN ELITES IN CLUJ KOLOZSV R KLAUSENBURG AND SIBIU NAGYSZEBEN HERMANNSTADT HAVE PROVEN TO BE A REWARDING AND INDEED EVER EXPANDING FIELD THAT IS FAR FROM BEING FULLY EXPLORED ALTHOUGH IT IS HOPED THAT THE PRESENT STUDY WILL OPEN NEW PERSPECTIVES THIS BOOK IS NOT OR NOT ONLY A REVIEW OF THE INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF THE TOWN GOVERNMENTS OF TWO TRANSYLVANIAN TOWNS ALTHOUGH SOME HISTORICAL FACTS ON THE DEVELOPMENTS OF URBAN ADMINISTRATION ARE PRESENTED RATHER IT FOCUSES ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ELITES FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF INDIVIDUALS THUS BY INVESTIGATING THE CAREERS OF INDIVIDUAL OFFICE HOLDERS I HAVE TRIED TO CREATE A GROUP BIOGRAPHY OF THESE URBAN LEADERS AND TO DESCRIBE THE CHANNELS THROUGH WHICH THEY WON MAINTAINED AND TRANSMITTED POWER DEFINITIONS WHO WERE THE ELITE AND HOW ARE THE URBAN LEADING ELITE DEFINED ELITE REFERS TO A GROUP OR GROUPS OF PEOPLE WHO BY THEIR DECISION MAKING ACTIVITIES EXERCISE A MAJOR ROLE IN SHAPING THE LIVES THE PERSPECTIVES AND THE SURROUNDINGS OF THE MASS OF THE POPULATION THEY HAVE RISEN FROM THAT IS THE SIMPLEST AND MOST LOGICAL DEFINITION POLITICAL SCIENCE SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY HOWEVER HAVE 1 CREATED MORE COMPLEX AND MORE SOPHISTICATED DELIMITATIONS AND THEORIES THAT HAVE LED TO INTENSE DEBATES THE CONCEPT OF ELITE ACCORDING TO JEAN PASCAL DALOZ IS A CONVENIENT INSTRUMENT TO DELINEATE CATEGORIES OF PERSONS STANDING AT THE APEX OF SOCIETIES AND LIKE ANY OTHER CONCEPT HAS HEURISTIC ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES 1 ACCORDINGLY THE DEFINITION OF ELITE MAY BE APPROACHED FROM DIFFERENT ASPECTS AND BE INFLUENCED BY A GREAT DIVERSITY OF CONDITIONS ARISTOTLE FOR INSTANCE DEFINED THOSE INDIVIDUALS BELONGING TO ELITES AS MAGNANI MOUS HAVING THE CAPACITY TO PERFORM EXTRAORDINARY DUTIES AND THEREFORE DESERVING HONOUR AND MAGNIFICENT PERSONS WHO HAD THE CORRECT SENSE OF WEALTH AND POWER 2 WEALTH DISCIPLINE AND HONOUR WERE THE KEY CONCEPTS IN THE ANCIENT DEFINITION OF ELITE THE MIDDLE AGES ADDED THE IDEA OF HUMILITY AND THAT SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION WAS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE THIS CONCEPT WAS STRENUOUSLY REFUTED BY HUMANIST THINKERS ESPECIALLY MACHIAVELLI WHO ARGUED AGAINST THE EXALTED STATUS OF HUMILITY AS OPPOSED TO GLORY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ENLIGHTENED MINDS VOLTAIRE MONTESQUIEU FIRST ACCEPTED OR RATHER ADMITTED WEALTH AS A NECESSITY FOR BEING PART OF THE ELITE 3 SCHOLARLY DEFINITIONS OF ELITE STARTED TO APPEAR ON A SYSTEMATIC BASIS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY ONE OF THE FIRST NAMES IS HERBERT SPENCER 1820 1903 WHO PIONEERED THE APPROACH OF SO CALLED SOCIAL DARWINISM WHICH DOWNPLAYED THE IMPORTANCE OF INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR AMBITIONS IN DETERMINING GROUPS OF ELITES MEANWHILE A CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGIST GABRIEL DE TRADE 1843 1904 ARGUED EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE THAT INDIVIDUALS CONSTITUTE THE BASIS FOR SOCIAL ORDER 4 UNDOUBTEDLY MAX WEBER S 1864 1920 LEGACY IS OF THE HIGHEST IMPORTANCE IN THIS CONTEXT TOO WEBER WAS THE FIRST TO SEPARATE STATUS AND CLASS ANALYZING THE TWO CONCEPTS SEPARATELY HE ALSO REACHED THE CONCLUSION THAT WEALTH IS NOT NECESSARILY OR EXCLUSIVELY THE MAIN SOURCE OF POWER BUT TRADITIONS AND KNOWLEDGE MIGHT ALSO RAISE SOMEONE TO THE ELITE 5 THE NOTION OF INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS AS SEPARATE ENTITIES OF THE ELITE CONCEPT AND VALUES STARTED TO BE ARTICULATED BY NORBERT ELIAS 1897 1990 AND THE ELIASIAN MOVEMENT 6 LATER PIERRE BOURDIEU 1939 2002 PUT MORE EMPHASIS ON THE TWO ACTORS OF ELITE DEFINITIONS HIGHLIGHTING THE IMPORTANCE OF AN UPPER CLASS WITH THEIR POWER TO IMPOSE THEIR OWN CATEGORIES OF PERCEPTION AND APPRECIATION UPON THE LOWER CLASSES HE INTRODUCED THE CONCEPT OF CAPITAL FOR DETERMINING ONE S POSITION WITHIN THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF A GIVEN SOCIETY 7 DEFINING ELITES IS PERHAPS NOT AS COMPLICATED AS ELITE THEORIES MAKE IT SEEM FOR IT DATES AS FAR BACK AS ANCIENT GREECE PLATO IN THE REPUBLIC DIVIDED SOCIETY INTO THREE MAIN CATEGORIES THE ELITE AMONG THEM THE PHILOSOPHER KINGS THE 1 JEAN PASCAL DALOZ THE SOCIOLOGY OF ELITE DISTINCTION FROM THEORETICAL TO COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES NEW YORK PALGRAVE MACMILLAN 2010 PP 1 2 2 DALOZ THE SOCIOLOGY OF ELITE DISTINCTION P 8 3 DALOZ THE SOCIOLOGY OF ELITE DISTINCTION PP 10 12 4 DALOZ THE SOCIOLOGY OF ELITE DISTINCTION PP 13 16 5 DALOZ THE SOCIOLOGY OF ELITE DISTINCTION PP 22 23 6 DALOZ THE SOCIOLOGY OF ELITE DISTINCTION PP 31 33 7 DALOZ THE SOCIOLOGY OF ELITE DISTINCTION PP 35 36 BRITISH PLANTS THEIR BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY 2 AUXILIARIES SOLDIERS CIVIL SERVANTS AND THE WORKERS THE REST OF THE POPULATION 8 THIS WAS THE FIRST ARTICULATION OF A HIERARCHICAL CONCEPTION OF SOCIETY AND THE FIRST THEORY ON THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE RULERS AND THE RULED AND IT BECAME THE BASIS OF WHAT WAS CALLED LATER THE ELITISM OF THE NORMATIVE APPROACH IN ELITE THEORY TREND SETTING THEORISTS OF THIS APPROACH WERE TWO ITALIANS GAETANO MOSCA 1858 1941 AND VILFREDO PARETO 1848 1923 AND LATER THEIR GERMAN FOLLOWER ROBERT MICHELS 1876 1936 THE SO CALLED ITALIAN SCHOOL OF ELITISM PERCEIVED THE FORMATION OF THE ELITES IN TOWNS NOT AS A HEREDITARY PROCESS BUT AS ARISING FROM COMPETITIVE TENSIONS BETWEEN GROUPS WHICH REPLACED EACH OTHER OVER TIME PARETO AND PARTICIPATION IN THIS COMPETITION WAS THEORETICALLY OPEN TO EVERYONE FOR DELIMITING THE ELITES FROM THE REST OF THE SOCIETY MOSCA INTRODUCED AND DEVELOPED THE THEORY OF A RULING CLASS THOUGH WITHOUT REACHING A PRECISE DEFINITION OF IT INSTEAD HE USED A SERIES OF SYNONYMS DOMINATING OR RULING CLASS GOVERNING CLASS UPPER CLASS GOVERNING MINORITY WHEN REFERRING TO THE RULING GROUP MOSCA LEFT THIS THEORY IN A RELATIVELY ROUGH STATE 9 WHICH IS PROBABLY WHY MOSCA S CONCEPT BECAME STRONGLY CONNECTED TO MARXIST TERMINOLOGY AND CONSEQUENTLY FAILED TO REPRESENT WHAT HE HAD INITIALLY PLANNED HOWEVER PARETO S DEFINITION OF THE ELITE AND OF A CIRCULATING ELITE OPENED A NEW DIRECTION FOR POLITICAL ANALYSIS 10 IN PARETO S DEFINITION ALL SOCIETIES ARE DOMINATED BY ELITES OF VARIOUS COMPOSITION AND THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE ELITE CHANGES PERIODICALLY IN EACH SOCIETY 11 PARETO AND MOST ELITE THEORISTS SPOKE ABOUT DOMINATING AND LEADING ELITES AS TWO SYNONYMOUS NOTIONS ALAN HARDING MADE A DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE TWO TERMS IMPLYING IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LEADERSHIP AND DOMINATION IN THE LEVEL OF CONSENT ACCORDED TO ELITES BY THE REST OF THE SOCIETY ASSERTING FURTHER THAT LEADERSHIP SUGGESTS A WILLINGNESS TO FOLLOW WHEREAS DOMINATION IMPLIES A SIMPLE INABILITY TO RESIST 12 POLITICAL SCIENTISTS AND SOCIOLOGISTS USUALLY DISREGARD HISTORICAL CONTEXTS IN CONSTRUCTING A SOCIAL THEORY OR AT BEST THEY ONLY GO BACK AS FAR AS THE BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN AGE AND INDUSTRIALIZATION ALTHOUGH THE SOCIAL PHENOMENA THEY ARE ARGUING ABOUT MAY WELL HAVE APPEARED IN EARLIER TIME PERIODS OR DIFFERENT HISTORICAL PLACES EVEN SOCIOLOGISTS LIKE C WRIGHT MILLS 1916 62 WHO CAN BE PLACED BETWEEN THE TECHNOCRATIC AND ELITIST TENDENCIES AS AN ADHERENT OF THE CRITICAL STREAM OF ELITE THEORIES 13 AND WHO HAD ONE OF THE BROADEST HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES DID NOT GO BEYOND NINETEENTH CENTURY AMERICA WHEN HE CREATED THE THEORY OF THE POWER ELITE AND HE MINIMIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY IN 8 PLATO THE REPUBLIC BOOK IV HTTP CLASSICS MIT EDU PLATO REPUBLIC 5 IV HTML 9 NORBERTO BOBBIO ON MOSCA AND PARETO GENEVA LIBRIRIE DROZ 1972 P 14 MICHAEL HARTMANN THE SOCIOLOGY OF ELITES LONDON ROUTLEDGE 2007 PP 8 15 10 JOHN SCOTT PARETO AND THE ELITE IN VILFREDO PARETO BEYOND DISCIPLINARY BOUNDARIES ED BY JOSEPH V FEMIA AND ALASDAIR J MARSHALL FARNHAM ASHGATE 2012 P 9 11 SCOTT PARETO AND THE ELITE P 10 12 ALAN HARDING ELITE THEORY AND GROWTH MACHINES IN THEORIES OF URBAN POLITICS ED BY DAVID JUDGE GERRY STOKER AND HAROLD WOLMAN LONDON SAGE PUBLICATIONS 1998 P 35 13 HARDING ELITE THEORY AND GROWTH MACHINES P 37 BRITISH PLANTS THEIR BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY 3