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Essay On Power Elite Theory

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The Power Elite Theory states that power in the United States is concentrated into a miniscule group of elite individuals drawn from political leaders, corporate owners and directors, and high-ranking military officers. In my opinion, this is undoubtedly true. Due to studies done by top political scientists which show the small number of people who are in positions of power that control most of the nation’s important institutions, the small, intimate worlds these individuals build around themselves to ensure that power stays within the select few, and the pyramid of power which separates people based on their level of authority within the American government it is clear that the Power Elite Theory has merit. The primary reason it is believed …show more content…

The reading explains the model as, “At the top, a tiny elite makes all of the most important decisions for everyone below. A relatively small middle level consists of the types of individuals one normally thinks of when discussing American government: senators, representatives, mayors, governors, judges, lobbyists, and party leaders. The masses occupy the bottom. They are the average men and women in the country who are powerless to hold the top level accountable” (The Power Elite). This demonstrates the power elite theory divided into three sections with individual roles. It goes on to explain, “The power elite theory, in short, claims that single elite, not a multiplicity of competing groups decides the life-and-death issues for the nation as a whole, leaving relatively minor matters for the middle level and almost nothing for the common person” (The Power Elite). This states that all of the important, impactful issues fall in the lap of the elite, whilst the middle levels gets to deal with the excess material that the elite deem unworthy of their time, and the average people are left with little to no knowledge of what is happening in the political

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