Fractured? Yes. Reconfigured? Maybe. Unified? Unlikely

ABSTRACT

Since its appearance in a 2013 book, the “fractured elite” thesis—the claim that the corporate community in the United States and other developed societies has become increasingly fragmented in recent decades—has been the source of considerable controversy. Andrew Collins has produced a thoughtful and serious critique of this argument and presented three empirical claims that, he believes, render the alternative “corporate dominance” thesis more tenable. In this paper I respond to Collins's criticisms. I argue that his conception of the fracturing idea is based on a misinterpretation of its evidentiary basis. I then point to flaws in each of Collins's empirical illustrations and conclude that despite the persuasiveness of his argument, the evidence that he presents is insufficient to call the fracturing thesis into question.