In order to gain an understanding of how elites affect the development process, one of the first challenges is to investigate who are the elites and how do they access positions of power. The characteristics of the hyper-elites network and how it impacts on the distribution of power may constitute a key determining factor of the political equilibrium and the economic trajectory of a country. This article shows first the relevance of data from a first-hand statistical survey designed to be representative of the hyper-elites in Madagascar. This survey managed to capture in a comprehensive manner the pathways and the social networks of ‘elites’. The latter are defined as those who hold or have held top positions and/or have a level of responsibility in nine different spheres of power (political [governmental, elective and partisan], economic, religious, military, civil society, international organisation and public institution). Our empirical approach focused on social capital, instead of income or wealth, provides an innovative way to apprehend and to study in its entirety and nationwide how “the powerful upper tail” functions. Drawing on this unique dataset of 1000 hyper-elites, we show to what extent position of power is associated to four key elite network dimensions: size, quality, diversity of contacts and strength of ties. More specifically, the quality and diversity of ties are among the most relevant determinants of access to positions of power. Our analysis sheds light on the hyper-elite strategy of network building to “keep themselves to themselves” and on the importance attached to casts and other inherited positions. It explains the limited social mobility and the huge gap between the elites and the majority of the population, which are among the causes of Madagascar’s recession.

为了了解 精英如何 影响 在发展过程中，首要挑战之一是调查谁是精英以及他们如何获得权力职位。超级精英网络的特征及其对权力分配的影响可能构成一个国家政治均衡和经济轨迹的关键决定因素。本文首先展示了旨在代表马达加斯加超级精英的第一手统计调查数据的相关性。这项调查成功地以全面的方式捕捉了“精英”的途径和社交网络。后者被定义为在九个不同权力领域（政治[政府、选举和党派]、经济、宗教、军事、民间社会、国际组织和公共机构）。我们的实证方法侧重于社会资本，而不是收入或财富，提供了一种创新的方式来理解和研究整体和全国范围内“强大的上尾”如何发挥作用。利用这个由 1000 名超级精英组成的独特数据集，我们展示了权力位置与四个关键精英网络维度的关联程度：规模、质量、联系的多样性和联系的强度。更具体地说，关系的质量和多样性是获得权力职位的最相关决定因素之一。我们的分析揭示了网络建设的超精英战略“保持自我”，以及对演员表和其他继承职位的重视。