Preview

power elite vs. pluralist model

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1981 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
power elite vs. pluralist model
Abstract Both the Elite and the Pluralist models are a means by which public policy is created. Both do not conform to the democracy created by our fore-fathers; a government for the people and by the people. The Elite model is one in which a small group of wealthy white males hold the power and control the policy making for our country. In contrast, the Pluralist model suggest that the power is distributed among interest groups that compete to control public policy. Both Karl Marx(1883) and C. Wright Mills (1956) are famous for their views on the “rule by few” or the power elite. Through money and power, the power elite has a large influence on how the government elects, makes laws and operates on a daily basis.

Power Elite vs. Pluralist Model It has been said that one of the biggest threats to democracy in the United States is apathetic voters, more specifically, ignorance of the masses that leads to apathy (Dye, Zeigler, & Schubert, p. 79). Many blame citizens of the lower and middle class, claiming that they are lazy or that they simply do not care. Are citizens really to blame or has the government itself created apathy among the masses? Dating back to 1776, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, money equaled power. Those with money or “income producing land” had political power (Domhoff, p.55). Today these “landowners” are our high political leaders, corporate owners and military leaders. This leads to the question of: Is our country a true democracy, something we have prided ourselves on for centuries, or are we closer to a plutocracy, a government ran by the wealthy(Krugman)? By taking a closer look at special interest, policy-making and candidate selection processes, we can see how heavily our government relies on and answers to the power elite instead of the masses. Who are the Power Elite? First, we must understand exactly who the power elite are, a term coined by Karl Marx (Anderson



References: Anderson, Margaret L. & Taylor, Howard Francis. (2008). Sociology: Understanding a diverse society Domhoff, G. William. (2005). The class domination theory of power. Retrieved August 27, 2013, from http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/class_domination.html Dye, T.R. & Zeigler, H. (2012). The irony of democracy: An uncommon introduction to American politics Independence Hall Association. (2008-2013). American government: policy making: political interactions Reynolds, H.T. (1996). The power elite. Retrieved August 27, 2013, from http://www.soc ialstudieshelp.com/apgov_power_elite_htm

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Government 2305

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages

    -According to the pluralist theory of American democracy, politics is a contest among various. Interest groups…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It is much easier to contrast the four contemporary theories of American democracy than to compare them, as pluralist, hyperpluralist, elite and class, and traditional theory each highlights the competitive foundation of politics. Each contemporary theory investigates the underlying question "Who governs our nation" yielding significantly different conclusions. While the pluralist theory emphasizes that politics is merely a competition among groups - a competition overwhelmingly controlled by the wealthy according to elite and class theory - hyperpluralism contends that these groups weaken the political backbone rather than support it. Pluralism and hyperpluralism are similar in that both agree that groups indelibly impact society and therefore the government by pressing their concerns through organized efforts, however they differ as to whether the impact is positive or negative, respectively. Hyperpluralism also contrasts with elite and class theory stating that many groups - not just the elite ones - are so strong that the government is unable to act. It asserts that there are too many ways for groups to control policy, regardless of their organization, topic, or funding. Traditional democratic theory is composed of key principles that an ideal democratic process should consist of: voting must be representative, a population must participate, civic understanding, citizen control of agenda, and inclusion. The majority rule - in which the will of over half the voters is followed - guarantees equality, control, and inclusion, guaranteeing rights to those subject to the laws that follow the policy making process. A key aspect to the theory is equal representation from each citizen, which under hyperpluralist and elite and class theory is thought of as endangered or nullified by the power of groups and the wealthy, respectively. Pluralism suggests that democratic theory is successful because…

    • 364 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The government, a republic under democratic ideals, is supposed to represent the people. Yet what is truly being represented, shown in the policies in tax reductions and various other policies, is the rich. Just one of the top 10 most richest people in America have more money than 300 thousand of the lowest people put together. People are so distracted by other things, like racism, the gay marriage laws that were passed, and all these social issues that they don’t see one of the main problems at hand. Because of this “U.S government policies reflect the desires of the wealthy and interest groups more than the average citizen, according to researchers at Princeton University and Northwestern University” (Bondoli 1). Why? A democratic society has the most power in the people as a whole.…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ideally, a working and trustworthy democracy requires a general public composed of good and educated citizens that will act and vote on what is best for the society as a collective whole. This concept is rather too idealistic, for class and social divisions profoundly beget and affect individual interests. In effect, determining what the objectives and priorities should be in empire building can be difficult in the realm of a democracy, given the vast number of people who are entitled to participate. This complexity that lies in the determining of the “general will” consequently inhibits effective solutions in government.…

    • 1717 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    American politics is not a pure democracy, and has not been since its founding. Rather, it is a representative democracy, with elected selected by the elite few at the county’s founding, white men later down the road, all men even farther, then all citizens. However the introduction of Super PACs seem to tilt back the already money leaning scale to a time where more and more politicians focus on less and less funders.…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The three contemporary theories of American democracy are the pluralist theory, elite and class theory and hyperpluralism. The pluralist theory is a theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies. Pluralist theory describes a society ruled by the opinions of many views which inevitably results in conflicting views. This conflict tends to cancel out any gains made by one side, resulting in a kind of natural equilibrium. An example of pluralist is the inability of the House and the Senate to swiftly come to actions because of Democratic/Republican conflict. The elite and class theory is a theory of government and politics contending that societies are divided along class lines and that an upper-class elite will rule, regardless of the formal niceties of governmental organization. Over a third of the nation's wealth is currently held by just one percent of the American Population. Elite and Class theorists believe that this one percent of Americans controls most policy decisions because they can afford to finance election campaigns and control key institution, such as large corporations. They tend to live in the Northeast and attend exclusive prep schools and Ivy League universities. They tend to belong to mainline Protestant churches and they marry one another. Often members of the elite do not occupy governmental positions themselves, but depend on elected and appointed officials who do their work for them. Hyperplurism is a theory of government and politics contending that groups are so strong that government is weakened. There are several different groups, such as religions, cultural groups, ethnicities or interest groups that the government can't control due to hyperplurism. It is an extreme form of pluralism. An example would have to be the stance on abortion or gay marriage, pertaining to the state's constitution. Some states are passing laws either allowing gay…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Pluralist structure illustrates power as the aftermath of the collection of different interest groups haggling for the lead in the political process arena, which would include the policy making process that involves the dispersing of resources in communities. Pluralists theorist envision the state as a system that maintains consistent influence and protects the positions with in and of the political process exclusively as they engage availability to the anatomy of government. The state also protects who is chosen to office, and manages stability throughout communities. For Pluralist theorists power is distributed throughout the population of single voters who they claim have equal access to dominate with in their individual votes. Pluralist make the accusations that no one particular interest group dominates. The argue that these different interest groups are composed of different organizations with a variation of different interest, objectives and leadership and how they believe power is not concentrated. That in essence explains what and how pluralist structure of government thinks and works.…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Jacksonian Era

    • 3380 Words
    • 14 Pages

    Since Americans were victorious in the American Revolutionary War, the ideology of becoming a democracy has become a very significant part of everyday life. The Jacksonian Era in the 1820’s had an emerging working class of people like workers, clerks, and small tradesmen. As they made up a large portion of Americans, they felt that they deserved the right to vote, even though their occupations did not consist of owning any land to be able to do them. Even the lower class felt that they deserved this right because they wanted to ensure that they could vote for the candidate that would make them prosper the most economically. Another large…

    • 3380 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The original design of a fragmented and federated national political system serving and increasingly large and diverse polity has been fragmented by a series of political reforms beginning with the Progressive era and culminating with the congressional reforms of the mid-1970's. This institutional structure yields enormous power to intransigent interest groups and thus makes efforts by progressive reformers such as President…

    • 1411 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chavez Ravine Theory

    • 1593 Words
    • 7 Pages

    According to C. Wright Mills, in the modern societies of the world, there is almost always a power elite, an elite collective of high ranking individuals, who are non-explicitly in charge of commanding and manipulating the finances, resources of the bureaucratic organizations and foundations, and the economy, therefore they are basically the rulers of the said modern society (Form and Mills, 2001) .…

    • 1593 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hudson considers the principal conjecture of the Pluralist description of American politics is that no one group dominants in American Society, is erroneous, he contends that there is a powerful dominant group, business. He articulates that there are two faces of this politically privileged group; face - 1 encompasses the “Access to Political Resources” and face - 2 “Authority over Society’s Resources.” Face - 1 focuses on three aspects of business privilege toward political benefits: “predominance in lobbying policy makers, the role of business in financing elections, and messages favorable to business in the media, schools, and universities.” Face - 2 Hudson deems this power “more subtle and sometimes unnoticed’ emphasized by analysts like Charles Lindblom, “in two arenas: within the business enterprise itself and outside it, over society.”…

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    As soon as civilizations created constitutions, actions were being called unconstitutional by those who opposed them. In some instances, unconstitutional acts were the subject of revolution, regicide, or as happened in the American political system, the declaration of a Judiciary body. American judicial review can broadly be defined as the power of this such judicial branch of the government to determine whether or not the acts of all branches of the government and government official comply with the Constitution. It derives from the doctrine of "judicial supremacy", which in turn legitimises this definition by declaring that "both the letter and spirit of the Court's constitutional determinations bind all branches of government and government officials." (Siegel, Ely, McCloskey). Originating as far back as the late 1700's, this practice of judicial review, has allowed judges, thus, to maintain limited government and the rule of the people and to uphold the supremacy of the Constitution, by using the power allocated to them "to declare "null and void" any acts of the national government or of the states which they themselves deem contrary to the Constitution." (Irish and Prothro, 522). Thus, in effect the law becomes "what the judges say it is" (Irish and Prothro, 522).…

    • 1743 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In an elitist government it is believed that only a select few of people should hold political power. People who are maybe from a higher class or wealthier than the others form the group of elites. Elitist point of views are taking much more serious and carefully than those who are outsiders to this group.…

    • 312 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Plutocracy In America

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Americans are conditioned to see our present form of government as a representative democracy where power is in the hands of all the people. Until this assignment I realize did not understand plutocracy or the fact that we may already be living in a plutocracy. A plutocracy is defined as "government by the wealthy." A political system where power is concentrated in the hands of a small number of wealthy people, usually those with inherited wealth and wealthy families. At the top of every society an ironic mixture of those who are there by merit and capability and those who merely grab, hoard, and wield power and wealth. Every nation has its many, the general populace, and its few, the elite who dominate, rule, and favor themselves with wealth and privilege. It is and always has been the way of the world. It is not difficult to understand why this is so, why every society and nation forms itself into the many and the dominant few.…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unit #3 Review

    • 1742 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The US Constitution is one of the most influential documents in the history of modern governance. The system of government established by the writers of this document not only reflected and helped to ensure the hopes and desires of many citizens of the newly independent American state, but, perhaps more importantly, this system has served as a dramatic symbol for those people throughout the world who have struggled against tyranny and oppression ever since. This document has also served as a model for the creation of new governments over the past two hundred years. Nevertheless, some scholars, including Howard Zinn and Charles Beard, who wrote An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution, contend that this document is not the democratic mantra that its supporters proclaim it to be. These critics argue that the Constitution was designed primarily to protect the economic interests of the aristocracy, not only from the tyranny of the government, but also from the political pressures of the lower classes. They point to the ideas of the separation of powers, federalism, and checks and balances as being primarily ways in which the elites of American society could insulate themselves from the will of the common people rather than efforts to protect against tyrannical government. These scholars also look to the writings of James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton in The Federalist Papers to support their contentions. Finally, they look to the actions of some of the founding fathers, like Washington, Hamilton, Adams, and even Jefferson to find support for this theory. During this unit, we will examine this evidence in order to assess the validity of this theory as compared to the more traditional views of most Americans. As always, finding the truth requires a delicate balance of inquisitiveness, interpretation, speculation, and appreciation for subtlety. There are seldom…

    • 1742 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays