In difesa delle élite e del potere verticale: la democrazia altimetrica di Giovanni Sartori

The opposition between elites and the people that characterizes the contemporary political debate has ancient roots: from different points of view, it recalls the theories analyzing the compatibility of elites in democracies that began at the end of the 19th century and developed throughout the 20th century. One of the protagonists of this debate is Giovanni Sartori (1924-2017), who firmly believes that the theory of elites can improve the functioning of democracy. The aim of this article is twofold: on the one hand, to trace the salient moments of Sartori’s reflections on the relationship between elite theory and democracy, in particular the characteristics of the altimetric theory of democracy that led him to emphasize the model of vertical democracy; on the other hand, to identify and discuss the aspects that emerge from such analyses in order to make them available to those who wish to proceed with a necessary updating of elite theory aimed at overcoming the above-mentioned opposition.