The Elitism reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Elitism

Elitism is the belief that an elite - or small body of expert persons - are the only people whose views on a matter are to be taken seriously. The views of the majority of people who do not belong to the elite are worthless because they are deemed ignorant or incompetent.

The term 'elitist' is often used rather vaguely as a criticism of political and cultural attitudes thought to encourage the exclusion of large numbers of people from decision-making.

See also: anti-intellectualism, academic elitism

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Elitism in the context of education is the belief or practice of restricting or at least concentrating attention to the best students, the rest being deemed unworthy of attention.

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