Elite analysis has re-emerged as a central theme in contemporary organization studies. This paper builds on recent contributions to this revitalized field by developing a distinctive theoretical approach and substantive agenda for the study of power relations and elite ruling in organization studies. By drawing on a realist/materialist ontology and a neo-Weberian analytical framework, the paper identifies the idea of ‘command situations’ as the key concept for identifying changing mechanisms and forms of elite domination and control in contemporary socio-political orders. Three case histories are subsequently discussed in order to provide illustrative examples of the way in which this analytical framework can enhance our understanding of the complex interplay between ‘institutional’ and ‘interstitial’ power as it shapes the emergence of hybrid governance regimes through which contemporary regimes of elite domination and rule become organized.
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