Charles Wright Mills’ elite theory in the perspective of contemporary processes of democratic regression

The aim of the article is to present the works of Charles Wright Mills, primarily his trilogy that criticizes contemporary American society and elites: The New Men in Power, White Collar: The American Middle Classes, and The Power Elite. Although more than half a century has passed since the first publication of these works, the conclusions made by Mills seem to be still valid for us. In his works Mills described the negative aspects resulting from the development of modern society: mass society, disappearance of the public sphere, bureaucratization and concentration of corporate power in the hands of the “power elite”. All this means that Mills’ thought is still relevant. The article attempts to indicate the universal nature of Mills’ elite theory and use it to explain the causes of contemporary processes of democratic regression.