“Elites,” defined in the political rather than sociological sense, are
the few hundred men and women who exercise the greatest political
power in imperial or colonial centers or who are politically influential
in their communities above local levels. They may be imperial officials
or antigovernment activists. In colonial societies, they may belong to the
dominant races, to the subject races, or to hybrid races – although in
the era of nationalism people of subject races are perhaps more inclined
to stake out claims for self-rule. Elites may be appointed by imperial
metropolitans or recruited locally to assist in administration or to act as
intermediaries in economic activities. Some empires permit the election of
provincial councils that, over time, generate elites of status and reputation
beyond local circles. In contrast with elites, the “masses” are local leaders,
locally organized groups, and ordinary people. The patterns of elite alignment and elite–mass engagement during state formation are argued in this study to have critical consequences for the structural cohesion of
emerging states.