Losses and opportunities of the functional approach in the formation of the modern theory of the elite

The potential of the functional approach in the formation of the modern complex theory of the elite (the theory of the postclassical type) is investigated. The difference in the heuristic capabilities of the indicated approaches in the interpretation of the essential characteristics of the elite is shown. The role of the elite in determining an adequate decision-making strategy, a strategy of the elite's influence on social processes in the context of a transforming social environment is revealed. It is shown that at the turn of the 20th - 21st centuries, the system of criteria for elitism revealed the need to move away from the system of classical ideas. Trends in the transformation of elitism criteria are expressed through such vectors of dynamics as rationalization, sociologization, and subjectivation. Each of the indicated tendencies is characterized. Subjectivation as a vector of dynamics of elitism criteria is realized, as shown in the work, by expanding the categorical range. The range was supplemented by such categories as the resource of the subject, the potential of possibilities, the range of self-regulation, “mature subjectivity”. The process of subjectivation, as shown in the article, has its own specifics: the emphasis has been shifted to the resource potential of the subject, this is one of the tendencies in the interpretation of elitism criteria characteristic of postclassics. The author accepts the position of G. Endruwait, linking the process of subjectivation with development, and asserts the thesis: the subjectivation of the criteria of elitism presupposes an analysis of the phenomenon of the elite in terms of social development and the resource potential of the subject, expressed in the state of “mature subjectivity”. The author refers to the subjective criteria of the elite the feeling of “self-assignment”, “selfselection”, “self-identification” of the elite and supplements the designated number of subjective criteria with the subjective awareness of their own mission in development processes, which is necessary for the elite. It is the comprehension of the mission that lies at the basis of the subject's assignment to the elite, at the basis of the determination of the strategic paradigm of actions of those who classify themselves as the elite and identify themselves with the elite. Based on a comparison of the limitations and capabilities of the functional and functionalist approaches, formed in the problem horizon of the elite theory, the author concludes: within the functionalist approach, the role of the elite is seen in the preservation of the social system, while the functional approach is focused on the idea of the elite's ability to influence the choice of strategy solutions.

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