A dominant minority, also called elite dominance, is a minority group that has overwhelming

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

, or

cultural Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

dominance in a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

, despite representing a small fraction of the overall population (a

demographic Demography () is the statistics, statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analy ...

minority). The term is most commonly used to refer to an

ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

that is defined along

racial Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...

, national,

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

lines and that holds a disproportionate amount of power and wealth compared to the rest of the population. In contrast, minority rule, of less permanency and with no basis in race or ethnicity, is often seen when a political party holds a majority in political structures and decisions, but receiving less than the majority of votes in an election.

Africa

A notable example is that of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

during the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

regime, where

white South African White South Africans are South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original colonists, known as Afr ...

s, more specifically

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Casting''. Encyclopæd ...

s, wielded predominant control of the country, despite never composing more than 22 percent of the population. African-American-descended nationals in

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

white Zimbabweans White Zimbabweans (formerly White Rhodesians) are a Southern African people of Europeans, European descent. In Natural language, linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, these people of European ethnic groups, European ethnic origin are mos ...

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

, and the

Tutsi The Tutsi ( ), also called Watusi, Watutsi or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu languages, Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi ( ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

since the 1990s also have been cited as current or recent examples.

Footnotes

References

*Barzilai, Gad. ''Communities and Law: Politics and Cultures of Legal Identities'' (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2003). *Chua, Amy. '' World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability'' (Doubleday, New York, 2003). *Gibson, Richard. ''African Liberation Movements: Contemporary Struggles against White Minority Rule'' (Institute of Race Relations: Oxford University Press, London, 1972). *Haviland, William. ''Cultural Anthropology''. (Vermont: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, 1993). p. 250-252. . *Johnson, Howard and Watson, Karl (eds.). ''The White Minority in the Caribbean'' (Wiener Publishing, Princeton, NJ, 1998). , *Russell, Margo and Martin. ''Afrikaners of the Kalahari: White Minority in a Black State'' ( Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1979). {{Ethnicity Ethnicity Ethnicity in politics Majority–minority relations Minorities Social groups Social inequality Sociological terminology

Africa

See also

Footnotes

References