The Functional Elites of Quito Author(s): Emily M. Nett Source: Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, Vol.

13, No. 1 (Jan., 1971), pp. 112-120 Published by: Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Miami Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/174750 . Accessed: 19/04/2011 17:24
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EMILY M. NETT

Department of Sociology University of Evansville Evansville, Indiana

THE FUNCTIONAL ELITESOF QUITO*

/ hen the educatednatives of the capital city of Ecuador are of questionedaboutsocial class and the powerstructure their and country,the answercomesunhesitatingly withlittle variation. Everyone, and of course the educatedare as yet few in number, knowswho is who andwhatis what.The samplerof randomopinionconcludesthat the real poweris no longerin Quitobut in the port of Guayaquil. This has been documented Diaz,l who claimsthatthe traditional by aristocracy today owns only about50 percentof sierranacreage,most of it impoverished ruined,andthatthisclassis decliningsteadilywiththe and growthof variouscoastal"bourgeoisie" classeswhichstemfromthe commercialand bankinginterestsof the coast. Politically,too, accordingto that Lang,2the coastalinfluenceis undermining of the sierra,the deposito from the tion of the militaryjuntain 1966 being attributable pressures commercial Guayaquil oligarchy. it believedthat the eligiblemembersof the Furthermore, is generally old upperclass, formerlythe source of political and intellectualleaders, trends are not actingin these capacitiesrelativeto prior modernization in motion since World War II. Membersof the Quito upper class set
Ws/

* Partial funds for the research reported in this paper were provided by a Faculty Research Grant, Texas Southem University, Houston, Texas, 1967-1968. 1 A. Diaz, "Cambios sociales de las clases dominantes del Ecuador,"Revista mexicana de sociologia 25 (1963): 721-736. 2 Norris G. Lang, "Plutocrats,Managers, and Workers: An Analysis of the Social Organization of a Coastal Ecuadorian Plantation." (Doctoral dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, 1969).

112

THE FUNCTIONAL ELITES OF QUITO

113

may still exercisesome authoritybehindthe scene, mostly blockingand contribuelsewhere,but theirleadership originating preventing programs tions to the affairsof the country are negligible,accordingto popular belief. The purposeof this paper is to focus on questionsstemmingfrom the second of these widely held opinions,that is: the Quito upper class that influence the elitesis declining.It mustbe presumed the consensus on of educatedquite-nos regardingthe power structureof the nation is at split is a politiof least an approximation the situation.The coastal-sierra a as undoubtedly grossoversimplification an explanacal reality,although toryconcept.The divisionis certainlymorethan a matterof conservative points out. Perhapsthe interversusliberalpoliticstoday,as Blanksten3 nationaleconomicinteresttheoryof Lang4combinedwith the legitimacy to of vacuumtheory of Needler5contributes a better understanding the powersituation.At any rate, these data on functionalelites in Quito are requires presentedwith the knowledgethat their ultimateinterpretation a framework whichis knownmostlyby conjecture. Ecuador is a country which should by no means be considered "typical" Latin America,if indeedany such countryexists. Perhapsit of is typicalof the "witnesspeople"as describedby Ribeiro,6but if so, it is its by distinguishable at least the following three characteristics: geoeconomic base, graphicisolation, its size, and its primarilyagricultural These variablesare all rewhich has taken the form of monoculture. of and flectedin the appearance structure the capital.Quitotoday is consideredone of the most beautifuland conservative capitalcities of Latin city America,thoughnot the most traditional in Ecuador.It is relatively and quiet, colonial in style of architecture, its streets are crowdedwith barefootIndiansin native dress. The factors mentionedfor the country for as a whole have specialsignificance Quitowhen combinedwith some others also in evidencein most Latin Americancities. The political init stabilityof the nationalgovernment houses,the influxof illiteraterural and the reemploymentopportunities, migrantswithout corresponding markablypersistentremnantsof feudalism would all seemingly have
3 George I. Blanksten, "Ecuador: The Politics of Instability," in Political Systems of Latin America, Martin C. Needler, ed. (Princeton, New Jersey: D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 1964). 4 Lang, "Political Instability: The IndustrialElite of Coastal Ecuador" (presented to the Third Annual Conference on Latin America, University of Houston, 1968). 5 Martin Needler, Anatomy of a Coup d'Etat: Ecuador 1963 (Washington: Institutefor the ComparativeStudy of Political Systems, 1964). 6 Darey Ribeiro, "Universities and Social Development," in Elites in Latin America, Seymour Lipset and Aldo Solari, eds. (New York: Oxford Press, 1967).

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given special advantages to the members of the traditional upper class in maintaining what Lenski7 originally termed "status crystallization" and what Whiteford8 identified in his study of the traditional unchanging Colombian city, Popayain, as a lack of "incongruities in the possession of the symbols of social status" among the upper class. On the other hand, modernization, to be understood in Eisenstadt's9 meaning of increasing separation of roles held by individuals, a high level of technology and specialization and intensification of power in central agencies which is accompanied by rationality and populism, is occurring even in the sierra of Ecuador. Silvert'0 has characterized the rate of economic development of the country as "average" for Latin American countries. To the extent that both forces toward traditionality and modernity are operating, the following hypotheses are suggested for Quito: 1. Members of the upper class participate in the sociocultural life of the city as elites to a lesser extent than formerly but to a greater extent than they are required to do where modernization is taking place rapidly or has already been accomplished. 2. The elite turnover rate in the last ten or fifteen years has not been as great in Quito as that for more modernized cities, the same people who are active today having been in important positions a decade ago. Younger persons are more specialized and less extensively engaged. Distinguishing the elite from the upper class, Baltzell"- concluded, The elite concept refers to those individualswho are the most successful and stand at the top of the functional (objective) class hierarchy. These individualsare leaders in their chosen in occupationsor professions;they are the final decision-makers in the political, economic, or militaryspheresas well as leaders in such professions as law, engineering,medicine, education, religion, and the arts. On the other hand, in any comparatively stable social structure,over the years, certain elite members and their familieswill tend to associatewith one anotherin var7 Gerhart Lenski, "Status Crystallization: A Non-Vertical Dimension of Social Status,"The American Sociological Review 19 (1954): 405-413. 8 Andrew H. Whiteford, Two Cities of Latin America: A Comparative Description, (Beloit, Wisconsin: The Legan Museum of Anthropology, 1960). 9 S. N. Eisenstadt, Modernization: Protest and Change (Englewood, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall,Inc., 1966). 10 Kalman Silvert, "Nationalism in Latin America," in The Dynamics of Change in Latin American Politics, John D. Martz, ed. (Englewood, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall,Inc., 1965). 11 Edward D. Baltzell, "'Who's Who in America' and 'The Social Register': Elite in Upperclass Indexes in MetropolitanAmerica" in Class, Status, and Power, 3rd ed., R. Bendix and S. M. Lipset, eds. (New York: Free Press, 1966), pp. 266-276.

THE FUNCTIONAL ELITES OF QUITO

115

ious primary group situations and gradually develop a consciousnessof kind and distinctivestyle of life. The upper class concept, then refers to a group of families, descendentsof successful individuals(elite members) one, two, or three generations ago, who are at the top of the social (subjective) class hierarchy.

In a later formulation the elite concept,Aron'2has distinguished of betweenwhat he calls the elite as the broadestcategory,which includes all those in diverse activities who are high in importantor privileged positions either in terms of wealth or prestige,and two other narrower categories,the political class and the ruling class. The political class is of comprised those who actuallyexercisethe politicalfunctionof government. The ruling class includes those privilegedpeople who, without thosewho governandthose exercisingactualpoliticalfunctions,influence who obey. The influenceof the rulingclass derives from the moral authoritywhich they hold, or from the economic or financialpower they is possess.In thispaper"elite" usedin Aron'sbroadestsense;the prerogative to make finaldecisionswhichBaltzellextendsto all elites is viewed as being only that of the ruling class. Keller's'3term "strategicelites" seems to includethe same categoriesof influential personsthat Baltzell's derived"functional elites"covers. moreoperationally The methodof the studyis similarto that of Baltzell,who used the Who'sWho as an indicatorof elite status and the Social Registeras an index of upper-class Lackingboth sourcesfor Quito in recent groupings. upper-classfamiliesand new upperyears, I obtainedlists of traditional and and class personsfrom informants of elite personsfrom newspapers organizational directories.Informationfor 1951 was obtained from a Who's Who in Quito (1954). Returnsfrom an autobiographical questionnairemailedto the 532 elite personsactive in 1964 constituteabout 14 percentof the mailing,a total of 76 questionnaires being the basis for the followingdiscussion.In termsof the two majorclasses to which inof dividualshad been assigned,the returnswere representative the mail78 ing, approximately percenthavingbeen middle-classand 22 percent Withinthe upperclass, therewas a slightoverrepresentation upper-class. of of the traditionalupper class and an underrepresentation the new upperclass. The traditional Quitofamilies(same upperclass arewell-established
12 Raymond Aron, "Social Class, Political Class, Ruling Class," European Journal of Sociology 1 (1960): 260-281, translated in Bendix and Lipset, eds., Class, Status,and Power. 13 Suzanne Keller, Beyond the Ruling Class (New York: Random House, 1963).

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maternal and paternal name) of good reputation (ideally descended or with the myth of descentfromSpanishroyaltyor conquistadors)who view intermarriage the ideal and tend to exclude as marriagemates as
for their children persons of other classes. Included are three foreigners

(United States, Spain, Colombia) who had marriedinto good Quito families and several other upper-classfamilies from other Ecuadorian cities who as a resultof long-timeresidenceand interestswere thoughtto belong. The new upperclass are socially acceptablebut not yet married into the traditional upperclass. mailed, Figurescomparingthe elite samplewith the questionnaires by socialclass,areshownin Table 1. TABLE 1
OF WITH QUESTIONNAIRES THE SAMPLE ELITES COMPARED THE BY MAILED, SOCIAL CLASS
Questionnaires Questionnaires

Social Class TraditionalUpper New Upper Middle Total N

Mailed 7% 16 77 100 532

Returned 13% 9 78 100 76

The firsthypothesisof this investigation relatedto differential parlife ticipationin the sociocultural of the city by the upperclass. Takinga hypotheticalmodel of absolutemonopoly of the elite positions by the of upperclass of 100 percentand completeabandonment these positions to the middleclass as zero percent-both of whichconditionsneverexist
in actuality-Quito with the upper class contributing 20 percent of the elites appears far from a situation of perfect status consistency. This distance from the model of absolute monopoly appears to be the result of the emergence and subsequent growth of the "middle sector," as Gillin14 has termed this category. The expansion of this class of persons in turn reflects changes in the occupational structure. The proportion of upper-class to middle-class employed adults for the entire country has been estimated by Torres'5 as six persons in occupations called upperclass for each 94 persons in middle-class occupations. I believe the uni14 John P. Gillin, "Some Sign Posts for Policy," in Social Change in Latin America Today, Richard N. Adams et al, eds. (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1960). 15 Reinaldo Torres Caicedo, Los estratossocioeconomicos del Ecuador (Quito, Ecuador: La Junta de Planificaci6n y Coordinacion Economica, 1960).

THE FUNCTIONAL ELITES OF QUITO

117

reflectsmore accuratelythe occupationaldistribution versity attendance of employableadults for the city than the census data for the country show that for each as a whole. The 1965 data of Blaise and Rodriquez'6 20 upper-classstudentsthere are 80 middle-classstudentsin the two universitiesin Quito. The replication of the elite proportionsin the bothphenomena doesnot appear me as coincidental; to student population or "objective" structure the sometimes-called stemfromthe occupational stratification system. The 20 percentof the elites derivingfrom the upper class in Quito of can be compared withthe averageupper-class participation 23 percent in the twelve oldest metropolitanareas in the United States in 1940 to contributions the elites in those cities reportedby Baltzell.Upper-class rangedfrom a high of 29 percentfor Philadelphia,an old conservative easternseaboard city, to 11 percentfor Chicago,one of the younger,more socialstructures. rapidlychanging In the above analysisparticipation been viewed from the point has to of view of upper-classcontributions the elites. The question under considerationwas, "What percentage of the elites are upper-class?" Focusingon the social class insteadof the functionalposition,the question can be rephrased,"Whatpercentageof the upper class are elites?" activeadults upper-class In Quitoin 1964 fifteenpercentof the traditional were elites. This compareswith only four percent for Philadelphiain 1940. From this perspectivethe Quito upper class appearsto be highly involved in the community.This involvementcan only be interpreted, however,in termsof the typeof participation. Quito upperBy occupationas well as by degree of participation, in class elites differ from their counterparts North American cities. If are occupations combinedinto five categoriesof functionalelites, in both Quito and Philadelphiathe upper class as a proportionof all in the includingindustrialcategoryis highestfor the businesselite, "business" ists, businessmen,lawyers, engineers,and bankers.Table 2 shows the The occupationsin this catedistributions. Quito upper-class percentage the elite is in medicine gory are lawyersand industrialists; Philadelphia The Quito upperclass is not represented and architecture. amongeither the artistsand authorselite or the churchand educators elite;in Philadelphia there were upper-classpersons in both these elite categories.The ones exceptthat elites are similarto the Philadelphia Quitomiddle-class to the Quitomiddleclass contributes a slightlygreaterextentto the busi16 Hans Blaise and Luis Rodrlguez, "Students and the Social Order," manuscript, 1967 (study of institution building by the University of Pittsburg; an AID Project).

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ness elite and to the church and educatorselite than the Philadelphia middleclassdoes. TABLE2
FUNCTIONALELITES FOR QUITO 1964 AND PHILADELPIA 1940

Philadelphia
i XD XP DO

Quito

oCZ

BUSineSS*

47% 20% 49%

58% 32% 34%

Opinion& Political & Medicine Architecture & Church Education Artists&Authors Others
Total N

6 12 17 11 7
100 226

13 16 8 39 40 15 14 24 5 38
100 554 29%

18 6 12
100 16

15 8 15 12 15
100 56

25 17 17
22%

* Includes Businessmen,Lawyers, Engineers, and Bankers.

The second hypothesisof this study is that elite turnoverin Quito has not been great,although youngerelites of today are more specialized thanthose who were also elites thirteenyears priorto the occupationally in About half of the personsparticipating the affairsof the investigation. communityin 1964 had also been active in 1951; upper-classpersons, more than middle-class persons,tend to be active in both periodsas can be seen in Table 3. Persistencein personnelat this rate is found despite elected governments, both coalitiontypes, and two new constitutionally two coup d'etats,one of which installedthe militaryjuntawhich was in rate, powerat the time of this study.In connectionwith this low turnover Needler'7 has describedthe men involved in the militaryoverthrowas The same is the almost all havingbeen active in previousgovernments. for case with the candidates the recentelectionsof June 1968. All three for candidates the past coalitionof radicalliberalsand of the prospective Left WingFront,were elites, two socialistparties,calledthe Ecuadorian of whom are listed in the 1951 Quito Who'sWho,the other one being a Guayaquileiio. (The candidates for the nomination were Dr. Raul Dr. Huerta[Guayaquill, AndresC6rdova,andDr. JulioMoreno Clemente Espinosa. Dr. C6rdova received it.) Both the populist and right wing candidateswere formerpresidentsof the nationand of courseboth were
17

Needler, Anatomy of a coup dEtat.

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119

listed in the same publication. (Dr. Jose Maria Velasco Tbarrawas the candidate of the Velasquista party and Dr. Camilio Ponce Enriques of the Christian Social Democrats.) The winner of the election, Dr. Velasco Ibarra, has three times before filled the office. TABLE 3
QUITO ELITES IN Who's Who FOR 1951 AND 1964, BY CLASS

Class TraditionalUpper New Upper Middle Total N

Both 1964 and 1951 19% 11 70 100 37

Only 1964 7% 7 85 99 39

Both as a Pct of Total 70% 57 43 48%

With regard to specialization, younger men were more likely to hold a university degree and to have training beyond that degree, as indicated in Table 4. Except for the fact that age differentials do not exist for participation as government officials, younger men differ by type of occupation. Many more persons under fifty-three years of age were engaged in business, industry, and banking. (The average age for all elites was forty-eight years. The standard deviation was not computed, but five years were arbitrarilyadded to ensure the older group did include mostly those of another generation.) Furthermore, they held corresponding degrees in business administration, economics, engineering, and public administration. These persons fifty-three years and over were more likely to be practicing the traditional professions of law, medicine, and university teaching, to be artists, musicians, and writers, or to be career military men or religious functionaries. These percentages appear in Table 5. TABLE 4
EDUCATIONOF ELITES BORN BEFORE 1912 COMPAREDWITH THOSE BORN IN 1912 AND AFTER

Education Primary Secondary Special Training UniversityAttendance GraduatedUniversity Postgraduate Total N

Date of Birth 1912 & After Before After as a Pct of Total 5% 0% 0% 10 4 50 16 7 57 16 9 62 37 54 81 16 26 82 100 100 73% 19 54

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TABLE 5
PRESENT POSITIONOF ELITES BORN BEFORE 1912 AND BORN IN 1912 AND AFTER

Position

Date of Birth Before After

1912 & After as a Pct of Total

GovernmentOfficial 35% 38% 75% 10 22 Business & Industry 85 10 16 PracticingProfession 82 Banking 7 100 Officersin Professional&Scientific 20 5 Organizations 43 Officialsin Universityor Other CulturalOrganizations 4 5 67 10 4 Fine Arts &Literature 50 2 Politics & Opinion 100 2 Military 100 Religious Functionary 5 0 Retired 0 5 Total 100 100 73% N 20 55 In general, these scant data lend support to the expectations of the investigation: that, even though modernization is occurring in sierran Ecuador, the upper class continues to influence the life of the community visibly. The elites as a whole, though the upper class to a lesser extent than the new middle class, reflect structural changes in the social system. Younger elites function in more specialized and technologically based roles. Thus the evidence is also in accord with the popular notion that the upper class today is not participating in the community in the same manner it previously did; and the difference is not so much in terms of the quantitative differences. Members of the elite are involved in a more limited range of occupations and positions than formerly, having been displaced almost altogether in art and literature, but they are still dominant in the area of politics and opinion-making. Unless, or until, the educational base in Ecuador is considerably broadened, the upper class will continue to be the source of recruitment for the functional elites in greater degree than it is in more modern nations. However, the characterization of the functional elites is obviously becoming more middle-class. That is, increasingly the elites include people who are neither of the governing class nor of the ruling class. The evidence seems to lend support to Keller's'8 thesis that modern societies have specialized but functionally interdependent elites in place of a traditional ruling class. Perhaps Ecuador has gone "beyond the ruling class."
18

Keller, Beyond the Ruling Class (New York: Random House, 1963).