In the U.S. very few people actually have meaningful power. This is because in my opinion our government is dominated by top leaders based off of wealth, status, or position. The Elite theory is a theory of government and politics contending that societies are divided along class lines and that an upper-class elite will rule, regardless of the formal niceties of governmental organization. C Wright Mills, an American sociologist, expresses this view in his book, The Power Elite that to him "most important policies are set by a loose coalition of three groups- corporate leaders, top military officers, and a handful of key political leaders". However I also think that the Marxism theory ties in as well because his theory was all about money equaling power.
For example Rex Tillerson, former CEO of Exxon Mobil, was confirmed by the Senate in a 56-to-43 vote to become the nation’s 69th secretary of state. Since Tillerson was already a well known figure in the U.S. Don't you think that affects the outcome if he would win the seat? I think yes it very much does. He was a multi millionaire working as an engineer most of his life. Not to mention In 1998, he became president of Exxon Neftegas Limited with responsibility for Exxon's holdings in Russia and the Caspian Sea. Having money influences your chance of winning the election. This is not fair because the people of the U.S. didn't vote for him he was just elected by popular vote. This concludes that someone who has money has a better chance of being elected in the government than someone who is in the low or middle class. Some may argue that the U.S. is a Pluralistic government because it is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies. In a Pluralistic government "no single group, even if it had many political resources, could dominate most, or even much, of the political progress... not only are the elites divided, they are responsive to their followers' interests, and thus they provide representation to almost all citizens affected by a policy". However our government is too corrupt to be this way. It's something we want to be but can't yet at this stage become. The corporate leaders are too divided among themselves to dominate government.
These are a few videos explaining the topic more:
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