On 14 December 1999 Professor Mogens N Pedersen completed his sixtieth year. The day was celebrated by his friends and colleagues by the publication of this Festschrift. The Festschrift contains various articles written by friends and colleagues of Mogens Pedersen where the major theme is elite, parties and democracy. Not only was Mogens Pedersen one of the first political scientists in Denmark, but has also for many years held a prominent position in European political science, as editor of the European Journal of Political Research and as chairman of the ECPR. His notable contributions to the discipline may conveniently be subsumed under the heading "Elites, Parties and Democracy" which is the title of this Festchrift.