ABSTRACT
This article examines two contrasting access paths of access to the ruling elite, by Mario Henrique Simonsen and Antonio Delfim Netto, by comparing their social origins and performances in academia and politics. This approach allows us to observe a transition between a model of access to power based on the combination of privileged social origin, cultural assets, cosmopolitanism and family ties; and a model in which technical specialization and professional ties are the key factors. Simonsen and Delfim performed similar functions in the consolidation of science of economics in Brazil, both were central in shaping graduate education in economics and in the incorporation of mathematical tools to teaching and research. They then moved to the Federal Government, carrying with them their students and the ability to use technical arguents to legitimize their political decisions. The article argues that, despite the similarity in their professional achievements, they exercised power in disparate ways, a fact that can be explained by their different social origins and paths of access to the ruling elite.
elites; economics; mathematical methods; Antonio Delfim Netto; Mario Henrique Simonsen