Eliitism in the United States Democracy

Elitism in the United States Democracy

During such a chaotic day and age for a country, the United States' democracy is a difficult government to define. While many identify it as pluralist or bureaucratic theories, some fail to even recognize that it is not a democracy at all, rather a republic. Though recent events such as the Charlottesville riots seem to imply it as a pluralist government and basic societal structures are similar to the bureaucratic theory, many forget that no matter what happens, the government always stays true to its roots. At its roots, the government has always had strong governmental, militia, and corporate institutions. The power of these institutions, that never decreases or increases no matter the circumstance, imply that the United States democracy parallels C. Wright Mills' Elitist theory.

Mills' theory, though unlikely to be many people's preferred theory, bears strong resemblance to the power of the government both as it is today, and as it was defined in the Constitution. As Mills describes it, "the power elite is composed of men and women whose positions enable them transcend the ordinary environments of ordinary men and women; [who] are in positions to make decisions having major consequences" (The Power Elite, C. Wright Mills, 73). Mills describes that in an elitist society, these men and women have many difficult decisions to make. But even so, the decisions made and the consequences that result are not as important as the fact that the positions are filled. This fact resembles the bias used to elect political leaders rather than the skill of the candidates in the U.S. society. Furthermore, Mills puts the power in the hands of military, political, and corporate leaders. As Julia said, there is a difference between an influential figure and a powerful figure, which could identify Donald Trump's presidency. As a corporate figure before he was a president, many people wondered how a celebrity actually got elected president. However, his status pre-candidacy shows how corporate leaders do have large power in the government; Trump has always had power, whether it was during his business or during his presidency.

(Top: Funding for Donald Trump's campaign coming from corporate donations from others and his own company, Bottom: the amount of money spent on the military by country.)

Its no secret that money influences all government, whether or not is even a democracy. As shown above, money ties into corporations, politics, and military. Corporations fund campaigns for candidates that would benefit them most, and when those candidates are elected and have power, they fund the corporations and the military in return. This unwritten, organized system represents a modern Elitist government through the connections between the government, businesses, and military. Furthermore, as Mark Lieberman and Thomas C. Frohlich describe it in their article Companies Profiting The Most From War, many corporate institutions make money through selling weapons to the military. This way, the corporations benefit from not only funding through presidential decisions, but also through basic business. While some may argue that the many groups that there are in the US mean that it is a pluralist government, their influence only helps the point of view of corporations, the military, and politicians, all three of which still get to make the final decisions. The influence is not enough to guarantee power, which is already installed into the system of American Elitism.

In the American society, many groups, bureaucrats, and economic leaders have (limited) power and influence, but the greatest strength lies within the government, corporations, and military. The interactions between these three institutions represent the Elitist theory, and how their power overrules the power of any others in the country. Since politics ties into the decisions of the military and corporations, the basic structure of society is proven to resemble Elitism the most.

For Further Reading:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/22/companies-profiting-from-war_n_6919292.html

Questions:

- Does influence guarantee or help decide who gets power?

- How do corporations, the military, and the government help one another?

- Why doesn't pluralism define the United States?