However, the figures for the elites are Country Email List very different. The vast majority of the economic elite declares itself to be on the right (72%), while the majority of the cultural elite defines itself as on the left (56%). For its part, the political elite is Country Email List divided into two major groups: 39% say they are from the right and 42% position themselves on the left (only 16% declare themselves to be from the center). This evidence then reveals that Country Email List political polarization is a phenomenon that affects the elite first of all and not so much the citizenry.
As Nancy Bermeo indicates in a famous Country Email List book7, we must be very careful with blaming the masses for adopting radical positions and rather we must study the positions of the elites. The latter can act in such a way that they ignore the Country Email List opinion of the majority and thus get involved in internal disputes that make it impossible both for a reasonable discussion of the problems that affect society and the search for agreed solutions. The study we carried out also included a series of questions to analyze the opinion of elites and citizens Country Email List regarding the role of the State in the economy.
Reviewing that data repeats the Country Email List described polarization pattern. In general, citizens tend to demand the existence of a State that has a greater capacity to provide well-being for the majority and reduce inequalities, but the elites present Country Email List great variation regarding these issues. Particularly notorious is the position of the economic elite, which defends positions very much in favor of the free market. In turn, more than half of the population is in favor of the State taking charge of health (55%), education (58%) and Country Email List pensions (61%), but when it comes to these issues, elites tend to support mixed models where the state and the market are combined.