This study aims to answer two interlinked central questions with respect to Montenegrins’ divide over statehood and identity: Why and how Montenegrins, whom were once called ‘the purest and the best of Serbs’, sought to end their century-long common state experience with Serbia and instead establish their own nation-state in 2006, and what explains the rise of Montenegrin national identity and its transformation into nationalism? In attempting to answer these questions, it traces the historical development of Montenegrin national thought dating back to the early 20th century when Montenegro was annexed by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. Through the use and examination of opinion polls, newspaper articles, political and ethno-cultural state policies implemented by the ruling political elites, and their interviews, public speeches, and press conferences, this study also seeks to unveil how Montenegrin-ness evolved over time. The central argument running through this thesis is that Montenegrin nationalism as a political phenomenon was precipitated through elite competition. In their competition over social, political, or economic resources, the Montenegrin elites, through the implementation of political and ethno-cultural state policies and the active use of media outlets, managed to turn certain facts and events into points of reference for the citizens of Montenegro in the way they identify themselves. Thus, those events have become the basis of people’s belonging to a certain community and helped demarcate that specific community (Montenegrins) from that of Serbs. Backed by the reconstructed meaning of Montenegrin-ness, this emerging Montenegrin national consciousness facilitated the breakup with Serbia and the declaration of independence on 21 May 2006.

Economic elites have not received enough attention in the economic literature. The obvious reason is limited access to information. This paper seeks to contribute to contemporary knowledge on elites in two ways. First, it employs a new unique data set on the world economic elite covering 2002-2014 to develop a method of measuring the degree of elite circulation; second, it provides a theoretical explanation of the observed facts. The empirical finding is that the world economic elite is subject to a low degree of circulation. Despite increased globalization, liberalization, longterm economic growth, and the recent Great Recession, the core of the elite remains mostly unchanged. Our theory attempts to explain this fact by introducing the analytical distinction between market competition and elite competition, which is a kind of meta-competition. Thus,the following relationship is derived from the theory: The low level of elite circulation, that is, the low meta-competition, underlies the oligopolistic market structures that we observe in the real world. / Las élites económicas no han recibido suficiente atención en la literatura económica. La razón evidente es el acceso limitado a información. Este estudio busca contribuir al conocimiento contemporáneo sobre elites de dos maneras. En primer lugar, utilizando una nueva base de datos de las élites económicas mundiales que cubre el periodo 2002-2014, se desarrolla un método paramedir el grado de circulación de las élites; en segundo lugar, se ofrece una explicación teórica de los hechos observados. El hallazgo empírico consiste en que la élite económica mundial muestra un bajo grado de circulación. A pesar de la mayor globalización, liberalización, crecimiento económico de largo plazo y una gran recesión económica reciente, el núcleo de las élites permanececasi inmutable. Nuestra teoría explica este hecho introduciendo la distinción analítica entre competencia de mercado y competencia de la élite, la cual es una especie de meta-competencia.  Luego, la siguiente relación es derivada de la teoría: el bajo nivel de circulación de las élites, es decir, la baja meta-competencia, subyace a las estructuras oligopolísticas de mercado que se observan en el mundo real.