Concentration of Power is an inevitable feature of all political systems. Discuss. - page 2
Keywords: concentration of power seperation theories political marxism marxist elitism elitist pluralism pluralist
By exploiit on 19/06/2010
Level: A Level (Year 13)
Page Number: 2 of 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6
that power in society was concentrated not only to the elites but was also enjoyed by ‘sub-elites’ such as civil servants who are responsible for helping to shape and implement decisions made by their superiors.
As well as this, elitists see that those who control economic resources should, and inevitably will, rule as these resources benefit the many and allow them to preserve the capitalist system which supports their position. It is for this reason that elitists vehemently abhor radical ideologies like Socialism which threaten their authority and the status quo, and so work to avoid the spread of these views.
Robert Michels also contributed significantly to the school of Elite theory with his ‘iron law of oligarchy’ in which he stated that an oligarchy was established as a delegation of power for efficiency and stability. That is, elite members of society who displayed superior qualities would rise to the top and govern in the interests of the masses who are apathetic and ignorant to the entire political process. Michels criticised however, that this oligarchy would also transform into a conservative, self-serving elite and, from here, they would work to maintain the concentration of power.
The Radical Elite theory presents a similar view on elitism, although the theory itself does not advocate elitism and instead acts as a criticism of democracy from the left. The theory agrees that elitism is an inevitable feature of political society but believes that this is not because elites naturally rise to the top but because the masses are exploited and manipulated into accepting elitist rule. The key theorist involved with the radical elite theory is C. W. Mills who focused largely on the political system in the United States and presented the ‘power elite’ model. In Mills’ studies, he found that power is in fact concentrated although his version of the elite differed from his predecessors. He saw that the elite was established as a tripartite system which included the most important members of the political elite, the business elite and the military elite, and that this three groups overlap and co-operate in order to support each other’s interests. It is this co-operation, Mills believes, which proves that the power elite exists and therefore that a concentration of power must also exist. He does not consider this concentration inevitable however, seeing it as manipulative control.
Marxist theorists, like elitists, agree that power is concentrated to
Last 5 comments…
There have been no comments posted for this article, but you need to register if you want to be the first!