Summary Of The Power Elite By C. Wright Mills
SOC_155
The Power Elite C. Wright Mills has a different ideal of what “the power elite” is. Today, the term is associated with organizational sociology, political sociology, and other areas. Mills believe that the power elite are the ones in dominant positions. That these are the people making the choices for America, or manipulating it. Positions such as military, political, and in the economical positions. Mills states that the ones in the position of the power elite are not always aware of their status and “without conscious effort, they absorb the aspiration to be… the ones who decide”. Of the three domains, Mills suggests that the power elite is drive by the U.S. military, “permanent war economy”. The lack of their decision
making have had big effects the citizens of the U.S. The three most dominant have subgroups within them containing the “metropolitan 400 which consist of the notable families that are on the social register. Then Celebrities which are the media and entertainers. Then the chief executives that are presidents and CEOs of the most important companies within each industrial section. The corporate rich are major landowners and corporate shareholders. Warlords that are senior military officers, most importantly the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Then lastly the political directorate, in other words “fifty-odd men of the executive branch” of the U.S. federal government, including the senior leadership in the Executive Office of the President, sometimes variously drawn from elected officials of the Democratic and Republican parties but usually professional government bureaucrats. Mills believed these power elite decisions, or the lack there of, made an impact not only for the U.S. population but “ the underlying populations of the world.”
The Power Elite C. Wright Mills has a different ideal of what “the power elite” is. Today, the term is associated with organizational sociology, political sociology, and other areas. Mills believe that the power elite are the ones in dominant positions. That these are the people making the choices for America, or manipulating it. Positions such as military, political, and in the economical positions. Mills states that the ones in the position of the power elite are not always aware of their status and “without conscious effort, they absorb the aspiration to be… the ones who decide”. Of the three domains, Mills suggests that the power elite is drive by the U.S. military, “permanent war economy”. The lack of their decision
making have had big effects the citizens of the U.S. The three most dominant have subgroups within them containing the “metropolitan 400 which consist of the notable families that are on the social register. Then Celebrities which are the media and entertainers. Then the chief executives that are presidents and CEOs of the most important companies within each industrial section. The corporate rich are major landowners and corporate shareholders. Warlords that are senior military officers, most importantly the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Then lastly the political directorate, in other words “fifty-odd men of the executive branch” of the U.S. federal government, including the senior leadership in the Executive Office of the President, sometimes variously drawn from elected officials of the Democratic and Republican parties but usually professional government bureaucrats. Mills believed these power elite decisions, or the lack there of, made an impact not only for the U.S. population but “ the underlying populations of the world.”