...C. Wright Mills proposed the power-elite theory in 1956, which states that there is a power elite in modern societies, an elite who commands the resources of vast bureaucratic organizations that have come to dominate industrial societies. According to Mills, the power elite are the key people in the three major institutions of modern society- military, economy and the government (Mills 1956). It is the elite that occupy these leadership positions within the bureaucracies. Although this theory was proposed in what may have been a simpler time, the structure of power in America remains very much the same, as does the close relationship between the military, corporate, and government elites. Mills placed the military as one of the triumvirate groups that comprised the power elite. The military has been elevated to a position of prestige and power and the present class of professional soldiers has had an impact that is far greater than just military affairs. In World War II, large corporations tied to the defense industry rose in power and influence and formed the origins of what President Eisenhower called the military industrial complex (Swanson). The war brought a bureaucratic centralization of power. In more recent times, the demands of foreign affairs, the dangers of potential adversaries, the sophistication and mystique of new weapons, and especially the development of the means of mass destruction have all given power to our highest military leaders (Reynolds). Corporations...
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...Christopher Cordon Sociology 142 Friday 4- 4:50 P.M. 04-12-16 USC Village: What’s the Cost? Jack hammers, dump trucks, construction cranes and safety cones; all in a days work at USC’s new university village. We’ve all been somewhat affected by the recent demolition and construction in and around USC. Along with all the construction going on, traffic jams, detours as well as some of the noise going on, students such as myself aren’t the only ones affected. As beautiful and appealing as these renovations might seem, the price of a new beautiful new village does come at a cost to the residents, businesses and employees of the surrounding community. I was a member of this community as a young kid. I went to Vermont Ave. elementary just down the street form USC, and growing up, I did see a few changes here and there. Back in the early 90’s, the neighborhood had a completely different feel to it. There were gangs, drugs, and violence; typical for a South Los Angeles neighborhood. Over the years, USC’s presence started to change a few things. As students began to trickle over to the northwest neighborhoods, the tone of the neighborhood slowly changed. I was in elementary, so I didn’t really make much of it, only that a few of my friends from my block began moving away. As an 8 year old, you don’t really put two and two together until I started noticing the same thing in my new neighborhood in East Hollywood. Since it wasn’t a college neighborhood, there wasn’t a diverse group...
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...A Review: Genetics as a Predictor for Success for Elite Athletes Performing in Power vs. Endurance Sports Common wisdom tells us that a sprinter is highly unlikely to excel in a marathon, and vice versa. It is easy to conceive that genetic variation is a major source of such differences in athletic ability. Actually identifying these genetic causes requires classification of athletic traits and in depth data analysis. Every year the number of polymorphisms that are candidates to clarify individual variations in sports performance increases. The growth of complexity and disproportion between studies parallels with advances in sports genetics. Additionally, there are numerous factors that play a part in these studies of elite athletes. These factors include gender, size of population, ethnic origin or level of competition of candidates, and the statistical approaches all make correlations between studies difficult. Recent studies support the possibility of developing polygenic profiles that could be used as a method to determine an athlete’s genetic predisposition to certain sports and events. A recent study conducted by Buxens et al., investigated the correlation between genetic polymorphisms and world-class endurance vs power athletes. Their research was published in an academic journal and was titled; “Can we predict top-level sports performance in power vs endurance events? A genetic approach”. The goal of their study was to discriminate potential genetic differences...
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...REVISTA DE SOCIOLOGÍA, Nº 28 (2013) pp. 31-49 Elites, political elites and social change in modern societies1 Luis Garrido Vergara* Resumen Los estudios académicos acerca de las élites políticas poseen una vibrante historia reciente. El objetivo aquí es proveer un resumen selectivo de esa historia, enfocándose en la importancia de la distinción social y en las teorías de la estructura de poder como el marco teórico para comprender la influencia de las élites políticas en el cambio social. Dado que nuevas perspectivas y preocupaciones han surgido en este campo, la organización de este artículo no es completamente cronológica. Aunque puedan haberse ignorado muchas contribuciones relevantes, la intención aquí es brindar algún sentido de la riqueza e importancia de lo que han logrado los académicos acerca de la relación entre élites y representación, los vínculos entre élites, democracia y cambio social y las teorías de la estructura de poder. En este artículo también se estudia hasta qué grado la introducción de una nueva metodología de investigación por parte de la teoría de la dominación de clase de Domhoff abrió una nueva perspectiva en los estudios sobre las élites. Finalmente, se presentan una estrategia de investigación para las élites y dos conclusiones principales. Palabras clave: Élites políticas - cambio social - estructura de poder - representación. Abstract Scholarly studies of elites and political elites have a vibrant recent history. My aim here is to provide a selective...
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...For William Domhoff, it has become apparent, as to many other elite theorists, that capitalism is now interlacing with politics, in such a way that corporations are now able to determine and effectively influence the direction that government policies should take. This corporate power uses a certain number of mechanisms, strategies and processes whether legal or illegal, official or unofficial, to reach that end (Domhoff, 1990). In this essay, I aim at establishing and describing these processes as well as evaluating their impact on society. Concurrently, I shall evaluate and analyse this argument. Before establishing these strategies, I believe it is important that one be aware of what makes the corporate power elite and how it has managed to create a network or upper class and even corporate community network to determine domestic/national policy. Modern capitalist societies are not simply made of the upper class and corporate communities who as Domhoff argues, include all large income-producing property owners who also happen to control all the source of capital, thus constituting both a social and economic class (Domhoff, 2010: 7) at the top of the social hierarchy. There are also a variety of non-profit associations that are significant because they structure and determine the different discussions over public policy as well as the public opinion which, indeed, matters most to governments (Wetherley, 2008). Although they have been qualified of non-partisan or bipartisan...
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...The Inca Empire founded around 1200 A.D. was an imperial society with a complex development of cosmologies. This Dynasty allowed for growth of population, resources and power through a newly founded concept of political economies. Prior to this new idealism of exploitation and control Tribal societies were solely based on subsistence living. Where the Inca population was divided into a ranking system by ascribed status; individuals in tribal societies gained small amounts of symbolic power threw achieved status. Another substantial difference between the two types of societies is the taxation system of the Inca empire verses the egalitarian foundations on which tribal societies are built. Control was obtained by the Inca Dynasty through manipulation of the societies cosmology. Therefore, by comparing the cosmologies of Imperial societies with those of tribal societies we are able to analise the extent to which social structure influences cultural transformation. Incas Political economy differed from the earlier tribal economy of subsistence, this allowed for power gain. Political economy refers to ‘a cultural pattern in which a central authority intervines in the production and distribution of goods.’ The central authority in any Imperial society is an elite minority believed to be within the lineal dissenience of the Gods. This is the concept of the divine kingship which can be seen in the Inca Empire. Unlike the subsistence economy of a tribal society, where production...
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...The structural-functional strain of sociological theory will serve as a springboard for analyzing stratification in education and employment. Stratification is a system of positions that operates as a distribute system of rewards and punishments to populations based on only on their social position rather than the people occupying them (Davis & Moore, 1945). The rewards are considered rights essential to having a given social position and punishments are considered just deserts (Davis & Moore, 1945, p. 243). As a result, inequality in institution depends on control by an elite power structure over access to institutions such as education and employment, as these power structures ensure that the most desired social positions have individuals...
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...Benefits of Fascism Fascism is a type of governance where the government controls politics, social behavior and economy. Under fascism political system, the individual rights of the people are greatly minimized, with the nation being glorified. Citizens are supposed to only work for the government and it is a system that promotes dictatorship. Below are key benefits of fascism. 1. Enhances security The military plays a vital role in a fascist system since it is required for protecting national security as well as fighting enemies. Most of the nation’s resources are given to the military in spite of domestic problems and policies. Fascism gives more significance to the state in contrast to the citizens’ rights and thus military productivity is a vital state interest. This leads to a better military, thereby increasing security. 2. Promotes patriotism Fascism is essential concerned with the protection of national agendas. Individual rights normally take second place, while national policies are provided first priority. Since patriotic symbols, flags and slogans can be seen everywhere, fascism encourages patriotism. The citizens will thereby be united so as to eliminate any perceived threat to the state. 3. Limits media Sometimes media are credited with reporting biased news that causes conflicts amongst the population. In the fascist system, the government has great control over mass media. There are very strict polices placed on media and the government typically...
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...a book entitled The Founding Fathers: An Age of Realism and the contents of the the publication argued that the Founding Fathers of the United States held a particular view of their fellow man, one in which shaped their thinking and ultimately, the writing of the Constitution. Hofsteadter argues that the Founding Fathers of the country held a rather negative view of their fellow countryman. Such view made an impact of the writing of the Constitution and arguably, the governance and rule of the country. Hofsteadter states that the members of the Constitutional Convention also had a mistrust of democratic rule, perhaps due to the overwhelming sense of power it could give to a large amount of people. The chapter quotes William Livingston who states that “the people have ever been and ever will be unfit to retain the exercise of power in their...
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...direct(participatory)democracy- | | Elite- | | Legitimacy- | | Marxist view- | | power elite view- | | pluralist view- | | Power- | | power elite- | | representative democracy- | | Questions for Review: 1. What are the two ways a person can show power? Give examples of each. 2. What is the right to use power as expressed by a government office?________________ 3. What gives the U.S. Government its legitimacy? Why? 4. What element does government need to have in the U.S. to be perceived as legitimate? 5. What are essential elements to have representative democracy?____________________ 6. Why is direct democracy impractical? 7. Does the U.S. Constitution contain the word democracy? (Yes/No) 8. What does the Constitution refer to as the U.S. system of government? 9. Why did the Framers of the Constitution favor representative republicanism as a favorable form of government. 10. When leaders follow the wishes of the people it is called ____________________ politics. (Polling-ex. Clinton) 11. What is the elitist theory that basically says corporate interests control all of the elements in government? 12. The Marxist pits those who own the factors of production called _______________ vs. those who are the workers called __________________. 13. Who was the founder of the Power Elite Theory?_________________________ 14. The 3 groups that form the Power Elite Theory are: 1.) 2.) 3.) ...
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...Definitional activity (covering Power, Authority, and Legitimacy) There is no universally accepted view of power. Some authors have defined power as domination over others (Hobbes, 1651) while others defined it as a passage to achieve goals (Parsons, 1963). Some look to where power lies to define power from where power lies in the hands of many, this can be seen as Pluralism (Dahl, 1957) to where power lies in the hands of a few, this can be seen as Elitism (Pareto, 1935) but essentially it is the ability to do something For example, in the UK system, there are many accounts of both Elitism and Pluralism but realistically, we live in an Elitist state. The definition of authority is based on the power or right to act in a particular way and to influence others. To excise authority, consent is needed. Some may argue that there are three types of authority: charismatic authority, traditional authority and rational-legal authority (Weber, 1958). It can be argued that authority is used to excise social control (McLaughlin, 2008) and even that we, as humans, need authority in order to live (Seligman, 2003). An example of authority in the UK system could be the Prime Minister, as he has the power to “give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience” (Collins English Dictionary, 2009). The definition of legitimacy has many forms and shapes but some may argue that it derives from something that is right and proper. “Legitimacy has both a normative and a sociological meaning” (Keohane...
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...What is power? Abstract The aim of the assessment is to discover what power is. First part of the assessment is going to analyse three dimensions of power and different political theories: Pluralism, Elitism and Marxism. Later on the assessment is going to talk about different forms of state power which are: use of force, authoritative leadership, use of nudge and surveillance. The last part of the assessment is going to criticise the three dimensions of power by using market liberals’ opinion that the state in fact should hold less power and give more of the power to the individuals by privatising public sector. The conclusion states that there is no exact definition of power and that it can be defined in different ways according to pluralists, elitists or Marxists. Introduction The beginning of the assessment is going to explain three dimensions of power and different political theories that associate with these dimensions, these are: pluralism, elitism and Marxism. Later on it will talk about different forms of state power. Explanation The first dimension of power is behaviourism according to Robert Dahl’s famous definition of power is: ‘’A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something that B would not otherwise do’’ which means that according to behaviourist philosophes in order to find out where power is we need to study different individuals behaviour. First dimension of power is pluralism. One of the pluralist observes was Robert Dahl who...
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...inter-elite differences cannot be ignored. Hence constitutional federalism attempted to account for both centripetal and centrifugal forces with the notion of unity in diversity: unity represents the ideal, long-term goal, diversity expresses current reality; the idea of unity in fact promotes a feeling of (future) oneness, while the guarantee of diversity makes popular acceptance of differences more palatable. Or, expressed in terms of elite consolidation and ruling-class interests, unity provides a dominant, central “trough” for the most successful, while diversity ensures a multiplicity of secondary, sub-national “troughs” as a kind of consolation...
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...prevalent and visible today. This paper on “Examining Meritocracy and Elitism in Singapore” serves to explore the inherent contradictions within the concept of meritocracy and investigate the systemic failures arising from the dissonance caused by how meritocracy is practised in Singapore where the inevitable social and income inequalities results in an elitist system which perpetuates itself. The central research question is how meritocracy shapes the Singapore elite and in turn how the elite shapes meritocracy in the country. In this paper, the elite is defined as the class of English-educated Singaporeans who subsequently rises to the top as the political and bureaucratic elite, unless otherwise specified. This paper will discuss how the elite accumulates an increasing degree and concentration of influence which allows them to consolidate their dominance over the rest of society, as well as its attendant consequences. This paper will thus illustrate how instead of seeking to bridge the social divide, the elites’ privileged and entrenched position actually leads to limiting social mobility as they continue to safeguard their self-interests. II. MERITOCRACY AND ITS DANGERS Meritocracy was a term coined by...
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...the big arguments as to why the EU has a democratic deficit is that the EU is an elitist organisation. This argument claims that the EU is controlled by a small group with a lot of power. The elite can be separated into two distinct groups: the economic elite and political elite. The economic elite are defined as big businesses that want a big, single market of which to trade in of which the political elite push forward. The political elite constitute: heads of governments, foreign ministers, civil servants and the Commission who have come under a lot of scrutiny by euro-sceptics for being undemocratic. Elite domination can be evidenced by the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 and Denmark as a member state. The Maastricht Treaty was the most important treaty in terms of change of rules of the EU and Demark wanted to consult with its population before accepting the terms by holding a referendum. The first referendum led to a rejection by the Danish people however a second referendum was held on the issue in which the Danish population agreed to accept the treaty. This is a clear example of the EU not taking no for an answer and shows how the EU is led by an elite that will not take rejection from the population of an EU member-state. This can be evidenced further by idea of an EU Constitution that the elite were in favour of because it would create in theory a “United States of Europe”. The French and Dutch held referendums on whether to accept an EU constitution and both rejected the...
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