The Power Elite [Paperback]

"The Power Elite" begins its examination of the power structure in America by looking at local systems of elites. These microcosms of power, much more common in the earlier era of our country, constituted numerous bases of influence across the country. These people were the ones who owned the local mills, or worked as the local lawyer or doctor. They often owned land and saw themselves as the height of local society. But as America grew in size, these local elites gave way to a nationalized power structure that overrode the old, regional ruling constructions. In the process of showing how regional elites eventually formed a national system, Mills examines the old moneyed classes in the United States, how the powerful and wealthy set up networks of influence through elite schools, and how the power elites recruited new members through such institutions as corporations and government service. If I had to sum up the first few sections of this book, I would say that Mills is trying to show how scattered the power elite was in the earlier stages of this country's history.

The first part of this book tends to move slowly, and isn't nearly as interesting as the second half when Mills discusses the rise of the military, government, and corporate hierarchies. According to Mills, these three institutions now form a contiguous whole as far as managing the country goes. Moreover, people inhabiting any of these three structures often move between them with seeming ease. Isn't it funny that Colin Powell, a lifelong military officer, suddenly finds himself in the political world as Secretary of State? Or how Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, and Donald Rumsfeld move between the corporate and political worlds with such simplicity? I'm not picking on the current administration, as EVERY administration regardless of political stripe does this, but these specific examples are indicative of what Mills argues in this book: that the three hierarchies of power in the United States are interlocking, and that the people at the highest levels of these institutions look after one another and do each other favors because they share the same experiences, backgrounds, and aspirations. They all share the same attitudes, the same sense of "sound judgment" necessary to manage society.

As if this thesis isn't chilling enough, Mills includes a couple of chapters about the role of society. In this section of the book, the author concerns himself with the concept of masses versus publics. A mass is essentially a population that receives opinions from elites through controlled communication systems instead of expressing their own ideas. In a mass society, the mass "has no autonomy from institutions," which further inhibits opinion. A public, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of a mass. Opinions are not received through media systems, but arise from open debate through open communications systems. Institutions do not excessively restrict the autonomy of a public, either, because the public doesn't need to rely heavily on institutions to lead them.

I think anyone with an iota of common sense knows where we stand today in terms of Mills's definitions. The United States, that great, immutable bulwark of freedom, is instead a mass of some 260 million souls effectively controlled through the corporate media systems. Sure, one can argue that the people vote officials out of political office, but has that really changed anything? And sure, the Internet does allow nearly anyone with access to a computer a forum for virtually any topic, but it will take more than a few e-mails tacked on to the end of every news opinion program on the media outlets to convince me that we do not essentially receive our opinions. Besides, leaders tell us nearly every day that we are cattle: every time you hear the word "democracy" fall out of an elite's mouth, just remember that democracy means "mob rule," in this case, the American mob ruled by the power elites.

So what do we do? That's one of the great failings in Mills's analysis of the power hierarchies: he never provides any solutions to the problems of a managed society. There is a reference to the idea that bureaucracies ought to be run by individuals who rise through merit instead of through elite appointment, but that's about the only recommendation the author makes. I am suspicious of bureaucracies anyway, so Mills's idea on this topic fails to satisfy me. The New Left did try to use the information contained in "The Power Elite" to affect change, ultimately failing due to a clash of egos and a useless foray into communism. There is one word that may solve the problem, a word many will reject outright: revolution. Mills never calls for it, and that may be the biggest disappointment concerning his analysis. Anyway, this is an illuminating book for readers on both sides of the political spectrum. It is disappointing to see so few reviews for such an insightful book.

After nearly fifty years, that in and of itself is powerful testimony to his enduring value as a scholar and an original thinker. To Mills, it is critical to understand what he viewed as inherent differences between personal troubles of the individual on the one hand, which that particular person has the responsibility to resolve and overcome, and social ills on the other hand, which are beyond both the ken or control of the solitary individual. Indeed, according to Mills, increasingly in the 20th century one finds himself trapped by social circumstance into dilemmas he is absolutely unable to resolve without significant help from the wider social community. "The Power Elite" is a masterful attempt on Mills' part to accurately describe the nature of American society, and to detail how wealth, power, and privilege systematically influence and affect the ordinary individual's progress in the economic, social, and political domains.

Mills specific focus in this book is on the interlocking nature of three aspects of the power elite in this country, including the military, the corporate, and the political elite. According to Mills, they share a mutuality of life experiences, educational backgrounds, and economic situations that they cooperate and support each other to the detriment and disfavor of the mass of ordinary Americans. Mills wanted to alert his contemporaries as to the critical ways in which the nature of power and privilege had changed in the 20th century, and while many critics have openly criticized his findings and his conclusions after the book's publications, many readers now find his prognostications and warnings regarding the ways in which the power elite would collusively wrest and manipulate control of every aspect of life in this country an amazingly accurate critique of the true nature of power and privilege in America.

Mills often write eloquently regarding the ways in which a person's recognition of "what's what" and "who's who" based on the ability to judge the information within the social environment would dramatically aid him or her in operating within the social environment. Obviously, these words and this observation are as valuable as ever. This is a wonderful book, written in a very accessible and entertaining style, meant both for an intellectual audience and for the scholastic community as well. While it may not be for "everyman", any person wanting to better understand and more fully appreciate how individual biography and social history meaningfully interact to create the realities we live in will enjoy and appreciate this legendary sociological critique and invitation to the pleasures of a sociological perspective by one of its most remarkable proponents some half century ago.

Still, in none of his work, and least of all in "The Power Elite" did he shink from one grain of the poison he finds at the root of the American identity, as it shows its face to an awe-struck globe.

It is an interesting paradox that the mere fact that a book such as this COULD be published is testament to inherent intellectual health of the traditions of American thought and culture. It's a beautiful thing that such horrifying reports are heard in this America -- I hope that the ugliness and duplicity here exposed flies forever in the USA. It's a brighter banner to symbolize the real power of America than could ever be run up the pole in red, white and blue.

...all of which is for naught if you don't read the damn book!