Peripheral Elites in West European Central States’ Apparatus: An Introduction

Abstract

The presence and influence of peripheral elites in national political institutions is frequently handled by the press. But, oddly enough, the lack of a comprehensive vision of this issue tends to feed flashy titles alerting about the influence of some territorial groups in central institutions (e.g. the “Scottish Raj”, the “Tartan mafia” or the “Cosa Scotia” in London). This paper aims to provide a general theoretical framework able to orient those fragmented researches. This literature review was led from May 2018 to June 2020. It presents those results in six sections. The ways in which peripheral elites get access to central institutions are analyzed in the first section. In the second one, we introduce the literature about the presence of peripheral elites in the state apparatus, before to stress the different networks representing the interests of peripheries in the city capitals. Fourth, this article points out the various career orientations of peripheral elected officials. This leads us to question their policy influence in different fields. Lastly, a short chapter tackles the phobias provoked by the rise of peripheral elites occupying central political positions, before to propose a general framework for orienting future research on this topic.