In the democratic and digital era, it can be hard to tell who an elite is. They don’t necessarily swan about in mink coats and luxury cars. The person in the t-shirt and smart watch next to you in the coffee shop could be an elite. The term “elite” is deployed everywhere—but it can be hard to define with any precision. Who is an elite? And why should we care?

We define elites as those who

• operate at the highest level across a range of domains;
• wield significant (national, regional, and global) influence and power;
• possess expert knowledge, skills, and personal strengths that are
• deployed in strategic, creative, and generative ways.

Elites possess the most consequential and powerful agenda-setting and decision-making capacity in their societies. We should care about them because they are powerful, and because how they deploy their power—to what end and on behalf of whom—matters.