Higley, John and Michael Burton. Elite Foundations of Liberal Democracy. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2006.

The authors argue that democracy is not possible without a “consensually united elite”, examining how such an elite form and persists. They define elites as actors with “serious and sustained effects on political outcomes”. These actors are always few in number, have high status within society, and stand to benefit from political action. Elites exist in democratic or authoritarian regimes. The book explores a wide variety of cases around the world.