An educated class that cannot lead the masses fails its historical function

Evidence

The merit of an educated class, because it is its historical function, is to lead the popular masses and develop their progressive elements. If the educated class has not been capable of fulfilling its function, one should speak not of merit but of demerit—in other words, of immaturity and intrinsic weakness. … Did they at least attain the end which they set themselves? They said that they were aiming at the creation of a modern State in Italy, and they in fact produced a bastard. They aimed at stimulating the formation of an extensive and energetic ruling class, and they did not succeed; at integrating the people into the framework of the new State, and they did not succeed. The paltry political life from 1870 to 1900, the fundamental and endemic rebelliousness of the Italian popular classes, the narrow and stunted existence of a sceptical and cowardly ruling stratum, these are all the consequences of that failure. A consequence of it too is the international position of the new State, lacking effective autonomy because sapped internally by the Papacy and by the sullen passivity of the great mass of the people. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 503

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the historical function of an educated/leadership class by its capacity to lead and develop popular masses, turning the question of ‘merit’ into a functional standard.
• XREF: Connects to Gramsci’s later concept of hegemony and the intellectual’s organic role — this is the preliminary statement of why a ruling stratum is judged by its capacity to integrate the people.