Elites In A World Of Their Own
Last fall longtime independent pollster Scott Rasmussen conducted full-scale surveys of a group he calls "elites" — "People with a postgraduate degree, people who lived in densely populated urban areas, and people who made more than $150,000 a year."
Rasmussen was testing a phenomenon he had detected over months of conducting nationwide polls: "I consistently noticed that three groups held views that were different from most voters."
Unlike more conventional descriptions of the "1 percent," Rasmussen doesn't focus on the superrich. The key to elite status isn't great wealth; it is influence and access to the powerful.
"This group may not be the wealthiest," he observed. "But they lead government agencies, they are active in the media, they get involved in the political process, and most of them happen to share a certain worldview."
Sure enough, the views of elites weren't just slightly out of sync with those of the population at large. They were dramatically different. Their worldview skews left: More than 70 percent of elites surveyed identified themselves as Democrats.
Yet even the small minority of self-identified Republicans tended to embrace attitudes and opinions quite different from those of the general public— Consider:
Is there too much individual freedom or too much government control? In general surveys, about 16 percent said there is too much freedom, while 57 percent said too much government control. But among polled elites, three times as many (47 percent) believed there is too much freedom. Just 1 in 5 said that there is too much control.
Strict rationing of gas, meat, and electricity? In broad-based surveys, 63 percent opposed rationing and 28 percent approved. When elites were surveyed, on the other hand, the results flipped: Fully 77 percent favored rationing, while only 22 percent said they were opposed.
Personal financial circumstances? Of elite respondents, an overwhelming 74 percent reported that their finances are getting better. When the question was put to a cross section of the public, by contrast, just 20 percent believed they were better off.
Can government be trusted? 70 percent of elites surveyed expressed confidence that government officials will do the right thing most of the time. Yet among the general public, surveys have shown for years that less than 25 percent has that kind of trust.
"We haven't had a majority of voters trust the government most of the time since Richard Nixon was in office," Rasmussen notes. He speculates elites are so much more confident since government ranks are staffed disproportionately by men and women like themselves.
"A lot of people on the outside like to think there's a conspiracy," he said. "It's actually more like a fraternity." Indeed, roughly half of the elites in his surveys graduated from one of just 12 prominent universities — the eight Ivy League colleges, Northwestern, Duke, Stanford, and the University of Chicago.
Rasmussen is quantifying a phenomenon that is as old as American politics itself — a sense that there are two Americas: one well-off, well-educated, and well-connected, the other less privileged and less protected.
Decades later, Rasmussen's data suggest that the arrogance of such elites remains entrenched. In America they see a nation where people have too much freedom and should be told what to do by a government that knows best.
Recounting a presentation he gave at Harvard a dozen years ago, Rasmussen has never forgotten one faculty member who demanded in exasperation: "Why won't Americans let us lead? It's what we were trained to do."
You don't have to scrutinize poll numbers to recognize the impact of that attitude on America's civic life. Too many elites look down on their fellow citizens, and an awful lot of their fellow citizens return the favor.
FULL STORY