Corporate Elites
Elitist theory holds that the majority of political power is held by a relatively small and wealthy group of people, which share similar principles and interests. Most members of this group are born into affluent families. The majority of top leaders in the United States come from this privileged group. The power elite utilizes a variety of resources to dictate public policy. These individuals tend to hold top management positions within big corporations. These corporations are used as a powerful tool to dominate the political arena. Corporations are granted immense power, which they use, to protect their own interests, as well as, shape the interests of ordinary citizens. “The leadership role that business has in the economy gives executives of large corporations an unusual kind and degree of influence over governmental policy making.” (Lindblom 1993:p91)
The economic control of corporations plays an essential role in public policy. Depending on how they choose to play the game, large corporations dictate to economic conditions. Politicians must accommodate corporate interests to protect our sensitive economy. These accommodations can be called “corporatism”. Big businesses receive a privileged position by donating huge amounts of money and support to politicians and their political parties. This monetary support buys access into the system. This access, known as corporate welfare, can be achieved in the forms of favored rates on goods and commodities, higher interest bond issues, tariff protections, emergency funding, tax breaks and incentives, guaranteed investments, and weak safety standards. The rewards are endless, and they must be worth something because corporations spend a tremendous a...
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...th corporate bullies. As long as this relationship continues, democratic policy-making will be an impossible goal to attain. Corporate giants will continue to interfere with policy initiatives that fight pollution, encourage equality, heighten safety standards, and improve our overall quality of life. For money runs this country, and the one with the most money usually wins.
Bibliography:
1. Lindblom, Charles E. and Woodhouse, Edward J., The Policy-Making Process
(1993) New Jersey, Prentice Hall. Pp.90-103
2. Miliband, Ralph., Imperfect Competition, in Public Policy, The Essential Readings
Stella Z. Theodoulou and Matthew A. Cahn, (1995) New Jersey, Prentice Hall
Pp.58-65
3. C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite, in Public Policy, The Essential Readings
Stella Z. Theodoulou and Matthew A. Cahn, (1995) New Jersey, Prentice Hall
Pp.72-85
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The growth of large corporations had impacted American politics by causing governmental corruption because of the power some industries had in society. Since the government had used laissez faire in the late 1800s for the big businesses to...
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At first glance, it seems implausible the word democracy isn't written in the United States Constitution, or in the Preamble of the Constitution, or even in the Declaration of Independence. One would assume a concept so paramount to modern American culture would surely be derived from one of its oldest and most endeared documents. Alas, it is not. The Constitution only specifically mentions two entities, the government and “We the People”. Defining government is an easy enough task, but who are “We the People”? Originally consisting of only white male property owners, eventually adding in other races, income classes, women, and astonishingly, corporations, the definition of “We the People” has evolved numerous times. Corporation is another key term the architects of our government failed to define for us, perhaps that is why it found its way into the phrase “We the People”. A grave dilemma lies in this fallible defining of terms. Granting corporations person-hood legislatively shifts the power of democracy from human interests to corporate interests. This corrosion of human interest can clearly be noted when examining the battle over corporate power highlighted in the court cases of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, and United States v. Sourapas and Crest Beverage Company.
Kenneth Vogel’s Big Money explores the invasion of money into our political system. In the novel, Vogel explains one of the most important important events that is currently happening in today’s elections: donors. This, according to Vogel, has been brought on by a ruling in the case Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission. The result of this case destroyed finance restrictions, giving Corporations and Unions the same laws of freedom of speech as individual Americans. The novel opens in February of 2012 where Vogel sneaks into a donor banquet. As our current president, Barack Obama, gives his speech, Vogel makes a note of the President’s words. In particular, Vogel focuses on one line “You now have the potential
Even though monopolies are illegal, public corruption allows companies to form and continues to be a problem today. In an article published by the Los Angeles, Anh Do
The U.S. economy is a hybrid composed of both capitalist and socialist principles. Because of this, the economy is best described as being a managed economy. A managed economy is a non-market economy in which the government has influence over price determination and the distribution of goods and services. Due to the large federal presence in business, corporations often lobby for politicians whose agenda aligns with their profit margins. In this pursuit of political backing, a phenomenon emerges called corporate personhood. Corporate personhood is the idea that human rights, as outlined in the Bill of Rights, are extended to corporations. These rights include the right to contribute to political campaigns, to exempt themselves from certain
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).
...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.
It follows the principle that the masses are sought as an ally to the various interest groups in their attempt to exert power in their special interest in this case being female empowerment (Eitzen, 2012). As a result, this principle that governs political parties and movements have set up a power elite systems where much of politics is controlled by money and corporate entities. However, the political party system remains resistant of proposed changes in favor of women representation and involvement in key decision making. Furthermore, the funding of presidential campaigns has much to do with donations from the wealthy and they in a sense control the presidential nominations. Eitzen (2012) states that this trend confirms the conflict theory where entities or persons of influence have the tendency of showing support to leaders who supposedly will ensure that their interests are safeguarded at the expense of democracy or right judgment. We see clear evidence of the influence of the power elite in the current state of government in the United States. Power in the United States is concentrated among the people who control the government and the largest corporations (Christensen,
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.
It seems obvious that large corporations have a tendency to ignore the negative effects of their actions in favor of profit. This example, although sensationalized, still says to me that with power comes responsibility. It affirmed my belief that a corporation’s goal cannot be just to provide profit to shareholders, but there must also be an element of social responsibility.
When the problem became serious two main views formed: the “narrow” view and the “broader” view, based on different ideas. The “narrow” view is based on the proposition that corporations have no social responsibility and they have only one main purpose, to make a profit (Friedman, 1970). So corporations should remain socially independent and all conflicts must be solved through the individual responsibility concept. On the contrary the “broader” view states that corporations have social obligations as all existing participants of market, persons and entities are tied together and are mutually dependent. So corporations cannot ignore some serious events or problems, which take place, and must help society, as profit is not their single purpose.