Mills's Concept Of A Power Elite In Modern Industrial Society

While introducing the sociology of C. Wright Mills, Frank W. Elwell (2006) explained Mill’s conception of a power elite that dominates modern industrial societies, like America. According to Mills, present day societies host a small and unified group, called the power elite. The power elite holds enormous power because they are in control of the major bureaucratic organizations that currently dominate modern societies (p. 10). Mill’s perspective strongly emphasized the ongoing rationalization process and how this was related to the intensifying bureaucratization process that has shaped social structures and social organization. The processes of rationalization and bureaucratization have deeply affected many societies and Mills argued that these
10). Mills identified three major institutions in modern society. These dominating hierarchies consisted of military institutions, government institutions, and corporations. Mills discussed how the decision-making power of military, government, and corporate sectors has centralized, enlarged, and become incredibly powerful. Additionally, other sectors of society have become increasingly subjugated to the overarching power of these major social institutions, which has been achieved through the centralization and enlargement of military, government, and corporate institutions. Now, the leaders of these three major areas form a small, unified group that Mills referred to as the power elite. Interestingly enough, their source of elite power is not attributed to any individual factors, according to Mills. In contrast, he believed that their source of elite power stemmed from the high levels of legitimate authority that they, in fact, possessed. Therefore, their source of elite power was not attributed to individual factors such as charisma. Specifically, Mills believed that the power elite achieved an unparalleled degree of power and influence that was ascribed through the social organizations in which they occupied key leadership positions. Mills stressed that it was crucial to analyze the three major institutions of corporations, government, and military to understand how power, influence, and decision-making processes have narrowed, centralized, and enlarged. The three major institutions identified by Mills have provided the leaders of these institutions with a resource for power that Elwell (2006) described as being “never before equaled in human history” (p.