Political Theories

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the pluralist theory, which maintains that power is usually balanced out among competing factions so no one group or individual tends to dominate. The elite theory, on the other hand, which is commonly known as the power elite theory, argues against this decentralization model. It maintains that elite groups in the country have always dominated and thus power resides in the hands of a select few. The paper concludes that the elite power theory has more substance compared to the pluralist theory. The paper shows how it offers a sound analysis of power distribution in the US and helps us see how the fortunate few are dominating politics and the economy.

From the Paper:

"Decentralization is believed to the main guiding factor behind the way in which accession to the Congress is granted. The House of Representatives allows each state the opportunity to send representatives accordance with their population. The state with higher population gets more seats in the House while those with lower population, as judged by the most recent Census, is allowed lower number of seats. However the same rule doesn't apply to Senate where each state gets equal number of seats regardless of its population. This was believed to be the best way of decentralizing power and dividing it among all factions and interest groups. This would indeed be the perfect pluralist model because laws are to be ratified by both the houses and this allows every group some say in the major issues facing the country."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Janda, Kenneth, Jeffrey M. Berry, and Jerry Goldman. The Challenge of Democracy:Government in America. Boston: Houghton Mif in Company, 1999, 42-3.
• Politics and Economy Losing Ground: Global Inequality. 17 May 2002. Now with Bill Moyers <http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/income.html> 17th June 2006
• C. Wright Mills. The Power Elite. New York: Oxford University Press, 1956, 3-4.
• A Fuel Economy Canard: The Auto Industry's History of Obstructions on the Road to Safety. Public Citizen. <http://www.citizen.org/documents/Auto_industry_safety_obstruction.pdf> 17th June 2006

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