The Napolitan Institute seeks to counter elite-driven narratives that distort public policy and endanger individual freedom, equality, and self-governance. As part of that mission, the Elite One Percent project seeks to shine a light on a specific group of out of touch elites who wield significant power and control much of the political narrative, crowding out the true voice of the American people.

Napolitan Institute has developed a specific terminology that is used in Elite One Percent Reports and on Napolitan News Service to define various subsets of both the Elite One Percent and everyday Americans.

Elite One Percent: People in this group have postgraduate degrees, earn more than $150,000 annually, and live in densely populated areas (10,000 people per square mile in their zip codes). An extremely influential group, they represent approximately 1% of the U.S. population. Members of the Elite One Percent tend to place a lot of trust in government, and many are concerned there is too much individual freedom in America.

Main Street Americans: This group, representing approximately 70-75% of the U.S. population, are the antithesis of the Elite One Percent. They have none of the three attributes of the Elite One Percent. They do NOT have postgraduate degrees, do NOT live in densely populated urban areas, and earn LESS than $150,000 annually. On many foundational issues, the gap between Main Street views and Elite One Percent views is enormous. Main Street Americans have little trust in government, and most believe there is not enough individual freedom in America today.

Elite Adjacent: This group sits between Main Street and the Elite One Percent. They have at least one of the three Elite One Percent attributes, but not all of them. On many issues, their attitudes are different from Main Street views but not as extreme as the Elite One Percent. One reason for tracking this group is that a credible sample of Elite Adjacent voters can be found in a standard national opinion survey of approximately 1,000 voters. Where sizable gaps on a topic exist between Main Street and Elite Adjacent Americans, it may be an indication of an especially large gap between Main Street and the Elite One Percent.