Page 371 - Essencials of Sociology

344 Chapter 11 politics and the economy

In Sum: Our pluralist society has many parts—women, men, racial–ethnic groups,
farmers, factory and office workers, religious organizations, bankers, bosses, the unem-
ployed, the retired—as well as such broad categories as the rich, middle class, and poor.
No group dominates. Rather, as each group pursues its own interests, it is balanced by
other groups that are pursuing theirs. To attain their goals, groups must make compro-
mises and work together. Because these many groups have political muscle to flex at the
polls, politicians try to design policies that please as many groups as they can. This, say
functionalists, makes the political system responsive to the people, and no one group
rules.

The Conflict Perspective: The Power Elite

If you focus on the lobbyists scurrying around Washington, stress conflict theorists, you
get a blurred image of superficial activities. What really counts is the big picture, not its
fragments. The important question is, Who holds the
power that determines the country’s overarching poli-
Figure 11.2 Power in the United States: cies? For example, who determines interest rates—and
their impact on the price of our homes? Who sets poli-
The Model Proposed by C. Wright Mills cies that encourage the transfer of jobs from the United
States to countries where labor costs less? And the ulti-
The top leaders Most
Corporate Power mate question of power: Who is behind the decision to
Political go to war?
Military Sociologist C. Wright Mills (1956) took the posi-
The middle level tion that the country’s most important matters are not
Congress decided by lobbyists or even by Congress. Rather, the
Other legislators decisions that have the greatest impact on the lives of
Interest-group leaders Americans—and people across the globe—are made by
Local opinion leaders
a power elite. As depicted in Figure 11.2, the power
The masses of people— elite consists of the top leaders of the largest corpora-
unorganized, exploited,
and mostly uninterested tions, the most powerful generals and admirals of the
armed forces, and certain elite politicians—the presi-
dent, the president’s cabinet, and senior members of
Least Congress who chair the major committees. It is they
Power who wield power, who make the decisions that direct
the country and shake the world.
Are the three groups that make up the power elite—
the top business, political, and military leaders—equal
in power? Mills said that they were not, but he didn’t
Source: By the author. Based on Mills 1956. point to the president and his staff or even to the gen-
erals and admirals as the most powerful. Instead, he
said that the corporate leaders are the most dominant. Because all three segments of the
power elite view capitalism as essential to the welfare of the country, Mills said that busi-
ness interests take center stage in setting national policy.
Sociologist William Domhoff (2010) uses the term ruling class to refer to the power
elite. He focuses on the 1 percent of Americans who belong to the super-rich, the
powerful capitalist class analyzed in Chapter 8 (pages 230–231). Members of this class
control our top corporations and foundations, even the boards that oversee our major
universities. It is no accident, says Domhoff, that from this group come most members
of the president’s cabinet and the ambassadors to the most powerful countries of the
world.
power elite C. Wright Mills’ term In Sum: Conflict theorists take the position that a power elite dominates the United
for the top people in U.S. corpo- States. With connections that extend to the highest centers of power, this ruling class
rations, military, and politics who
make the nation’s major decisions determines the economic and political conditions under which the rest of the coun-
try operates. They say that we should not think of the power elite (or ruling class) as
ruling class another term for the some secret group that meets to agree on specific matters. Rather, the group’s unity
power elite
springs from the members having similar backgrounds and orientations to life. They