Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Elite
Sociology
Outline
Theory History Positivism Antipositivism Functionalism Conflict theories Middle-range Mathematical Critical theory Socialization Structure and agency Research methods
Quantitative Qualitative Historical Computational Ethnographic Network-analytic Topics Subfields Change Cities Class Crime Culture Development Deviance Demography Education Economy Environment Family Gender Health Industry Internet
Elite
2
Knowledge Law Medicine Mobility Movements Networks Organizations Politics Race & ethnicity Religion Science Soc. psychology Stratification Browse
An elite in political and sociological theory, is a small group of people who control a disproportionate amount of wealth or political power.
Elite Unlike the ruling class, a social formation based on heritage and social ties, the power elite is characterized by the organizational structures through which its wealth is acquired. According to Mills, the power elite rose from "the managerial reorganization of the propertied classes into the more or less unified stratum of the corporate rich."[9] Domhoff further clarified the differences in the two terms: "The upper class as a whole does not do the ruling. Instead, class rule is manifested through the activities of a wide variety of organizations and institutions... Leaders within the upper class join with high-level employees in the organizations they control to make up what will be called the power elite."[10] The Marxist theoretician Nikolai Bukharin anticipated the power-elite theory in his 1929 work, Imperialism and World Economy:[11] "present-day state power is nothing but an entrepreneurs' company of tremendous power, headed even by the same persons that occupy the leading positions in the banking and syndicate offices".[12]
Impacts on Economy
In the 1970s an organized set of policies promoted reduced taxes, especially for the wealthy, and a steady corrosion of the welfare safety net.[15] Starting with legislation in the 1980s, the wealthy banking community successfully lobbied for reduced regulation.[16] The wide range of financial and social capital accessible to the power elite gives their members heavy influence in economic and political decision making, allowing them to move toward attaining desired outcomes. Sociologist Christopher Doob gives a hypothetical alternative stating that these elite individuals would consider themselves the overseers of the national economy, appreciating that it is not only a moral but a practical necessity to focus beyond their group interests. Doing so would hopefully alleviate various destructive conditions affecting large numbers of less affluent citizens.[]
Elite
References
Footnotes
[8] Powell, Jason L. (2007) "power elite" in George Ritzer (ed.) The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, Blackwell Publishing, 2007, pp. 3602-3603 [9] Mills, Charles W. The Power Elite, p 147. [10] Domhoff, William G, Who Rules America Now? (1997), p. 2. [11] Carson. [12] Bukharin, Nikolai. Imperialism and World Economy (1929) [15] Jenkins and Eckert 2000 [16] Francis 2007 [17] Mills, Charles W. The Power Elite, p 288.
Further reading
Heinrich Best, Ronald Gebauer & Axel Salheiser (Eds.): Political and Functional Elites in Post-Socialist Transformation: Central and East Europe since 1989/90 (http://www.gesis.org/en/hsr/current-issues/ current-issues-2010-2012/372-elite-transformation//). Historical Social Research 37 (2), Special Issue, 2012. Jan Pakulski, Heinrich Best, Verona Christmas-Best & Ursula Hoffmann-Lange (Eds.): Elite Foundations of Social Theory and Politics (http://www.gesis.org/en/hsr/current-issues/current-issues-2010-2012/ 371-elite-foundations/). Historical Social Research 37 (1), Special Issue, 2012. Dogan, Mattei (2003). Elite configurations at the apex of power (http://books.google.com/ books?id=Z6Cu8nvJplMC). BRILL. ISBN978-90-04-12808-8. Domhoff, G. William (1990). The power elite and the state: how policy is made in America (http://books. google.com/books?id=A35GpAnLR5EC). Transaction Publishers. ISBN978-0-202-30373-4. Hartmann, Michael (2007). The sociology of elites (http://books.google.com/books?id=A802Pz-IZ7cC). Taylor & Francis. ISBN978-0-415-41197-4. Rothkopf, David (2009). Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making (http://books. google.com/books?id=beHXwswSD9AC). Macmillan. ISBN978-0-374-53161-4. Scott, John, ed. (1990). The Sociology of Elites: The study of elites (http://books.google.com/ books?id=ZoW3AAAAIAAJ). Edward Elgar. ISBN978-1-85278-390-7. Jenkins, Craig; Eckert, Craig (2000). "The Right Turn in Economic Policy: Business Elites and the New Conservative Economics". Sociological Forum 15 (2): 307338. doi: 10.1023/A:1007573625240 (http://dx.doi. org/10.1023/A:1007573625240). JSTOR 684818 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/684818).
Elite Francis, David (2007). "Government Regulation Stages a Comeback" (http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0910/ p14s01-wmgn.html). Christian Scientist Monitor: 14. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
External links
G. William Domhoff's online supplement to his book Who Rules America (http://sociology.ucsc.edu/ whorulesamerica/index.html) Domhoff interview (http://www.publiceye.org/antisemitism/nw_domhoff.html) - September 2004, Public Eye.Org - Domhoff on the American Ruling Class as opposed to conspiracy theories. NY Books G. William Domhoff: "IS THERE A RULING CLASS? (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/9124)" In response to What Rules America? (May 1, 1975)
License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported //creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/