Many Americans hold different opinions or theories on how our government works. Some even take to writing what they believe in the hopes of finding someone with a similar view. There are three well-known theories of American Democracy, the elite theory, the pluralist theory, and the hyperpluralist theory. Each of these approaches all hold the relatively same belief, that Americans need someone powerful to govern and take control. Of the three theories, the elite theory best explains the American political process.
The elite theory is the belief that a select, powerful few make all of the decisions in America. The Americans trust in these elite to make the decisions for them. “It is just that the people are of necessity confused and must, like trusting children, place all the new world of foreign policy and strategy and executive action in the hands of experts” (C. Wright Mills, 78). To prove his elite theory Mills makes the claim that Americans are rather uneducated in the fields of government. We the people require someone above us to run things smoothly while also keeping in mind the public wants and the greater good. Someone that holds more knowledge will make better decisions for America.
The elite exist solely because the
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average American does not believe they possess the knowledge to make such wrenching decisions. The choices that the elite make, or refuse to make, have a great impact on our country. “The powers of ordinary men are circumscribed by the everyday worlds in which they live in… ‘Great changes’ are beyond their control, but affect their conduct and outlook none the less” (Mills, 72). We all want to have our say in government, but not everyone holds the knowledge it takes to make an educated decision, like the elites. Born and raised around scholars and professors, the elite understand which decisions will make a positive impact on the future. They each hold certain standards of good versus bad and while these may not always line up entirely; they do remain similar. Those who run the government, the elites, are all members of the same class or come from a similar background of privilege.
These similarities help to unite them and in turn make them stronger as a whole. “The conception of the power elite and of its unity rests upon the corresponding developments and the coincidence of interests among economic, political and military organizations” (Mills, 77). Those who are raised in similar circumstances are likely to hold the same views on issues affecting Americans. While the elites have the same perspective on many issues, Americans may have polar opposite opinions as they are the directly affected party. We want to be well informed on what the government is doing to protect us and better our
lives. The members of the elite make decisions that are not hidden, yet remain unknown by the people. Some of the choices made by elites are foreign to the American public. “There is accordingly reason to suspect – but by the nature of the case, no proof – that the power elite is not altogether ‘surfaced.’ There is nothing hidden about it, although its activities are not publicized” (Mills, 78). Decisions are made constantly and not every single one is going to make national news. We criticize our government for keeping secrets, when it is us that need to open our eyes and take time to look into the things we don’t understand. Theories on who actually run our government range from conspiracy to fact based opinions. While we all may see it a little differently, the big picture is rather similar. The elite theory, the pluralist theory, and the hyperpluralist theory all help Americans better understand who is really in charge of the greater good. We need knowledgeable people in positions of power to make choices for us. The elite theory is the best depiction of government in America today.
The U.S. president is a person deemed to be the most fitting person to lead this country through thick and thin. It’s been such a successful method that it has led to 43 individual men being put in charge of running this country. However, this doesn’t mean that each one has been good or hasn’t had an issue they couldn’t resolve when in office. But no matter what, each one has left a very unique imprint on the history and evolution of this nation. However when two are compared against one another, some rather surprising similarities may be found. Even better, is what happens when two presidents are compared and they are from the same political party but separated by a large numbers of years between them. In doing this, not only do we see the difference between the two but the interesting evolution of political idea in one party.
The articles bear similarity in that they both discuss matters relating to America’s political system. Both works address the apparent disinclination of Americans
Chapter nine of Enduring Debate talks about how the American opinion poll plays role in constructing the government and how the media has affected the American politics. The public polling promotes democracy by allowing citizens to give their views concerning issues in government. The opinion polls also keep the government on toes. The main ideas are based on the founding of the American state and the constitution. Constitutionalism is based on the concept of the rule of law and limited authority. American constitutional principles can be traced back over 200 years ago. However, the practical meaning of constitutionalism is a recent and peculiar achievement. In the American history before the constitution was implemented, most governments were established by use of force, heredity, the need to stop anarchy and by the belief in God’s will. During out the history, this style of establishing authority has endorsed power to different leaders with different characteristics. Some were dictators, divine, kings, tyrants while others were bureaucratic. These people had full control of power. They exercised absolute authority. The main reason is that there were no instruments of power such as constitution that could limit and keep in check the powers of these forms of government.
America is a country whose emergence is contributed to many sources. More specifically, the American form of Democracy stretch back beyond the formation of the United States, having origin in ancient Greek thinking, the Enlightenment, as well as the English and their injustice, The United States owes its birth as a country to many areas of influence.
In conspiracy theories, the elite represent the individuals and groups who have power. This small population has access to a large amount of money and resources, giving them an advantage over anyone who lacks this access. The elite can represent the conflict between high class versus the low and working class. Also, the government and any governing leadership can be considered the elite over the rest of the nation. This distinction will be important when discussing why people invest in conspiracy theories.
In discussing the problems surrounding the issue of factionalism in American society, James Madison concluded in Federalist #10, "The inference to which we are brought is that the causes of cannot be removed and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its effects." (Federalist Papers 1999, 75) In many ways, the nature of American politics has revolved around this question since our country's birth. What is the relationship between parties and government? Should the party serve as an intermediary between the populace and government, and how should a government respond to disparate ideas espoused by the factions inherent to a free society. This paper will discuss the political evolution that has revolved around this question, examining different "regimes" and how they attempted to reconcile the relationship between power and the corresponding role of the people. Beginning with the Federalists themselves, we will trace this evolution until we reach the contemporary period, where we find a political climate described as "interest-group liberalism." Eventually this paper will seek to determine which has been the most beneficial, and which is ultimately preferable.
The scenes in creation being intellectual, the put together of constitutional democracy was very empirical. The Constitutional Convention was convened to formulate the constitution. What had to be clear was that the only way to assure a functioning constitutional democracy was the public's discussion. In philadelphia the delegates compromised. The outcome was to integrate states with large populations and states with small populations with a bicameral legislative branch. Also compromises that guaranteed say from both slave owning states and non-slave states could be listened to. The Bill of Rights
When referring to classical antiquity period, most think of Greece and Rome dominating and flourishing in the areas of philosophy, sciences, mathematics and literature. One other admirable achievement, the establishment of early forms of democracy, came from this time period and should not be overlooked as it is the historical basis of our government today. The Founding Fathers of the United States were influenced by Greek and Roman concepts in law, government structure, and even philosophy. Concepts described in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States can be traced back historically to the classical antiquity period, and show that the United States government and law were modeled after those of Greece and Rome.
In 1956, C. Wright Mills developed a theory that “the United States no longer has separate economic, political, and military leaders but instead the most prominent people in each region combine to form a united elite.” Most people saw the two main levels of power in the special interest groups and the public, but Mills displayed three levels: the power elite then the special interest groups then the public. It is the higher levels that make the decisions regarding war, national policy, and domestic policy. Members of the power elite tend to be interested in similar things and also come from similar backgrounds. An example of this would be that most members are either educated at special schools, military academics, or Ivy League schools and also share common faiths in the Episcopalian or Presbyterian churches. Members of the power elite have known other members of the group for a long time, share the same groups of friends, and also intermarry (Sociology 407). They do all of this in order to make it easier for each other to agree on the same decisions and so their close friends and relatives can belong to the power elite in the future as well.
The pluralistic scholar David Truman notes that “the proliferation of political interest groups [is] a natural and largely benign consequence of economic development” (Kernell 2000, 429). That is, as American economic development increases, in the form of industry, trade, and technology, factions are produced in order to protect special interests. Factions have a large platform on which to find support from various political parties, committees, subcommittees, and the courts, as well as federal, state, and local governments (Kernell 2000, 429).
The United States of America is a republic, or representative democracy. Democracy, a word that comes to us from Greek, literally means the people rule (Romance, July 8). This broad definition leaves unanswered a few important details such as who are the people, how shall they rule, and what should they rule on (July 8). Defining the answers to those questions means defining a model for a democratic system. William E. Hudson defines four such models in his book American Democracy in Peril: the Protective, Developmental, Pluralist, and Participatory models of democracy (Hudson, 8-19). Of these models, perhaps Participatory comes closest to an ideal, pure democracy of rule by the people (16-19). In practice, however, establishing a stable ideal democracy is not entirely feasible. In a country the size of the United States, it quickly becomes unwieldy if not impossible to have direct rule by the people. To overcome this, the compromise of the representative system allows the people to choose who will rule on a regular basis. The political culture that defines American politics shows that despite this compromise, America is still very much a democratic society.
"United States can be seen as the first liberal democracy. The United States Constitution, adopted in 1788, provided for an elected government and protected civil rights and liberties. On the American frontier, democracy became a way of life, with widespread social, economic and political equality. The system gradually evolved, from Jeffersonian Democracy or the First Party System to Jacksonian Democracy or the Second Party System and later to the Third Party System. In Reconstruction after the Civil War (late 1860s) the newly freed slaves became citizens, and they were given the vote as well." (Web, 1)
C. Wright Mills, in this selection, explains to us how there are a certain group of people who make the important decisions in our country, the “power elite.” Mills splits this group into the 3 top leaders: the corporate elite, the military elite, and the small political elite. These 3 different departments work together as a whole to make decisions regarding the country.
From before America was even founded, and throughout her history, a question of what her public policy is or should be has always been in the public eye. And thanks to our constitutional right of the freedom of speech and press, ideas of public policy and American political theory have legally been allowed to circulate and influence the opinion of American citizens. There have been multiple ways of communicating ideas throughout American history, whether that is through pamphlets, essays or speeches—the question of what our American political theory is has progressed throughout history.
...top positions in the governmental and business hierarchy from communal principles and beliefs. Majority come from the upper third of the salary and professional pyramids, their upbringings were from the same upper class, some attended the same preparatory school and Ivy League universities. Also, they belong to the same organizations. The power elite have the power to control programs and actions of important governmental, financial, legal, educational, national, scientific, and public institutions. The ones in power influence half of the nation’s manufacturing, infrastructures, transportation, banking possessions, and two thirds of all insurance possessions. The occupants take essential actions that could affect everyone’s’ life in American society. Rulings made in meetings of significant corporations and banks can influence the rates of inflation and unemployment.