The Power Elite (Paperback)

~ C. Wright Mills (Author), Alan Wolfe (Contributor) "THE powers of ordinary men are circumscribed by the everyday worlds in which they live, yet even in these rounds of job, family, and neighborhood..." (more)
Key Phrases: power elite today, sovereign localities, higher immorality, United States, World War, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A classic...the first full-scale study of the structure and distribution of power in the Unites States by a sociologist using the full panoply of modern-day sociological theory and methods."--Contemporary Sociology

Product Description

First published in 1956, The Power Elite stands as a contemporary classic of social science and social criticism. C. Wright Mills examines and critiques the organization of power in the United States, calling attention to three firmly interlocked prongs of power: the military, corporate, and political elite. The Power Elite can be read as a good account of what was taking place in America at the time it was written, but its underlying question of whether America is as democratic in practice as it is in theory continues to matter very much today.

What The Power Elite informed readers of in 1956 was how much the organization of power in America had changed during their lifetimes, and Alan Wolfe's astute afterword to this new edition brings us up to date, illustrating how much more has changed since then. Wolfe sorts out what is helpful in Mills book and which of his predictions have not come to bear, laying out the radical changes in American capitalism, from intense global competition and the collapse of communism to rapid technological transformations and ever changing consumer tastes. The Power Elite has stimulated generations of readers to think about the kind of society they have and the kind of society they might want, and deserves to be read by every new generation.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (February 17, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195133544
• ISBN-13: 978-0195133547
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #40,245 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Welcome to America, the Managed Society, September 12, 2003

By	Jeffrey Leach (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

C. Wright Mills's examination on the inner workings of the ruling structures of America, "The Power Elite," had an enormous influence on the development of the New Left during the 1960s. This book became the bible of choice amongst the founders of the Students for a Democratic Society in the early 1960s, serving as one of the key components Tom Hayden borrowed from when he wrote "The Port Huron Statement," the first credo issued by that group. It could be safely argued that a student of Leftism in twentieth century America couldn't even begin to grasp the ideology of that movement without looking at this book. C. Wright Mills died before seeing the effects the New Left would have on American society, but his book lives on in reprint after reprint.

"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.

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perennial Best Seller and Stunning Critique Of America!, December 16, 2000

By	Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

No one has written with more verve and authority about the awesome and frightening capabilities of man than the late C. Wright Mills, a prominent and controversial sociologist who wrote such memorable tomes as "White Collar", an exploration of the emerging American Middle class in the early 1950s, and "The Sociological Imagination", a brilliant introduction to the values of employing the sociological perspective in better understanding the realities of ordinary life. In this book, "The Power Elite", Mills delivers a provocative examination of the nature of power, privilege, and status in the United States, and how each of these three critical elements of power and property in this country are irrevocably connected to each other, and how they affect and determine the life chances and material hopes of ordinary human beings. What is most amazing about this book is that while it was written almost fifty years ago to detail what Mills saw as the principal characteristics of American society at the century's mid-point, it also has great verve and value in understanding our contemporary cultural dilemma.

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.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mills presents an astute look at the U.S. power structure., June 12, 1998

By	Richard S. Engle "Richard S. Engle" (Winnetka, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Power Elite (Galaxy Books) (Paperback)

Mills, who died in 1962, provides the reader with an astute, insightful look at the power elite in America. Although many of his references are to people in prominence some 50 years ago, Mills' construct of the upper echelon in America withstands the test of time, prefiguring the military/corporate/governmental trinity of today. If anything, the trends Mills observed during his day, beginning with the advent of Truman's National Security State, have become more salient and pronounced over the years.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who desires an in-depth examination of the power base in this country and how it came to be. During Mill's short, turbulent life he devoted himself to stripping away the pretense of mid-twentieth century sociology, in favor of working toward a practical sociology based on the individual and his relationship contextually to the institutional structures defining his life. Mills believed that individual ills mirrored the greater sickness of the general society, as represented in its power organization, and that the relationship between the two maladies was causal.