Dominant minority

A dominant minority, also called elite dominance, is a minority group that has overwhelming political, economic, or cultural dominance in a country, despite representing a small fraction of the overall population (a demographic minority). The term is most commonly used to refer to an ethnic group that is defined along racial, national, religious, cultural or tribal lines and that holds a disproportionate amount of power and wealth compared to the rest of the population.

For other uses, see Minority (disambiguation).

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 during the apartheid regime, where white South Africans, more specifically Afrikaners, wielded predominant control of the country, despite never composing more than 22 percent of the population.^[1] African-American-descended nationals in Liberia, white Zimbabweans in Rhodesia,^[2] and the Tutsi in Rwanda since the 1990s also have been cited as current or recent examples.^[3]

See also

• Politics portal

• Colonialism
  • exploitation colonialism
  • plantation colonies
  • settler colonialism
• Elitism
• Herrenvolk democracy
• Middleman minority
• Minoritarianism
• Minority influence
• Model minority
• Neocolonialism
• Tyranny of the majority
• World on Fire, a book that introduces the concept of "market-dominant minority"
• Global majority