Abstract
This article puts in perspective the evolution of Anglo-Saxon and French sociology of the elites. The study of sociological and theoretical debates leads to the conclusion that elitism indeed rests at the core of democratic dynamics. France is typified by a deficiency of comparative studies, semantic disputes over the notion of elite(s), and a strong interconnection between the elites and the State, which has generated a blatant lack of concern for the concept. The author recalls the dilemmas related to the construction of the elite as a sociological object, and singles out recent avenues of research : first, a change of regime in which the elites make up one of the key variables, then the State modes of transformation into action.