THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF POLITICAL ELITE AND DEMOCRACY

The concept of political elite and democracy, their theoretical foundations, relevance to the political activity of citizens, the level of their proximity to political power, the ability to make strategic decisions and to influence social changes in the society, and the inequality in political hierarchy, the term political elite are dis- cussed in the article. It also describes the analysis of political science as a ruling part of the elite community, and the author analyzes the basics of researches carried out in this sphere. The controversy about the existence of elite theories, the impact of the people on the state, the unequal distribution of power in a society, and the fact that political life is built on the basis of competition constitute an evidence of the relevance of the article