Power, Elites, and Reality: The Political Thought of James Burnham

James Burnham remains one of the most influential yet controversial political theorists of the 20th century. A former Trotskyist who became a founding father of American conservatism, Burnham’s intellectual legacy is defined by a cold, clinical approach to how power actually functions. Through his seminal works, The Managerial Revolution (1941) and The Machiavellians (1943), he synthesized political realism and elite theory into a worldview that continues to resonate in modern political discourse.

The Science of Political Realism

Burnham’s philosophy was rooted in a strict rejection of utopianism and political moralism. He argued that politics should be treated as a science, focusing on what is rather than what ought to be. To Burnham, the high-minded rhetoric used by politicians—terms like "social justice," "democracy," or "the common good"—were often mere "political formulas." These are myths or ideologies designed to obscure the raw struggle for power and to gain the "moral" consent of the governed.

By stripping away the "window dressing" of political discourse, Burnham revealed a world governed by conflict, interest, and the pursuit of dominance. He believed that the primary goal of any organized social group is to maintain and expand its own power. This realist lens was later applied to his Cold War strategies, where he advocated for a clear-eyed assessment of Soviet intentions, famously influencing the "rollback" doctrine.

The Rise of the Managerial Class

In The Managerial Revolution, Burnham offered a prophetic analysis of shifting power structures. He argued that the era of traditional capitalism was ending, but it was not being replaced by socialism. Instead, a new "managerial class" was seizing control. This class consisted of technical experts, bureaucrats, and administrators who possessed the specialized knowledge required to run complex modern corporations and massive state machineries.

In Burnham’s view, the managers do not own the means of production in the classical sense; instead, they control them through the administrative state. This shift meant that power was moving away from parliaments and individual owners and into the hands of an unelected, professional bureaucracy—a concept that remains a cornerstone of contemporary critiques of the "Administrative State."

The Iron Law of Oligarchy

Drawing from the "Italian School" of elitism—thinkers like Pareto and Mosca—Burnham asserted that all societies are inevitably ruled by a minority. He argued that "the people" never truly govern; rather, history is a succession https://www.jameskburnhamdds.com/ of elites. In The Machiavellians, he suggested that the only way to preserve liberty is not through the hope of eliminating elites, but by ensuring a "circulation of elites." When different factions of the elite compete openly, it creates space for "juridical defense" and individual freedom.

Ultimately, Burnham’s work serves as a sobering reminder that power is the fundamental currency of politics. By understanding the elite nature of governance, he provided a framework for analyzing how modern institutions operate beneath their democratic surface.