Recruitment of members of Dutch noble and high-bourgeois families to elite positions in the 20th century

Abstract

This article offers a counter-example of the modernization theory by looking at the elite positions of the nobility in the Netherlands in the 20th century. We compare the elite positions of the parents and the children, and between noble families and high bourgeoisie families. The likelihood of achieving an elite position has not decreased for different generations of the nobility or in comparison with the high bourgeoisie. An important factor is their social and cultural capital as indicated by the noble titles of their mothers and parents-in-law. This suggests that the modernization theory may apply to the middle classes, but far less to the elites.