Overlapping values of the South African elite: Applying an adapted Wilson-Patterson C-scale

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Some important decisions that the elite take on specific political issues are connected to what can be termed their moral or social values. In order to ascertain what these social values of the South African elite are, a postal survey was conducted amongst ‘positional elites’ in 12 institutional sectors of society. The aim was to establish whether there are overlapping values by applying a Wilson-Patterson C-scale. Whether there is value consensus within a previously disunified elite could make a significant contribution to the success (or failure) of the process of democratisation. The conclusion was reached that there are discernable value patterns among the elite that could be attributed to differences in race, language and party support. In this regard there was more value overlapping than one would have thought, keeping in mind the great differences in political socialisation.

This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit: