Who Rules America?: Power and Politics in the Year 2000 [Paperback]

G. William Domhoff (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 335 pages
• Publisher: Mayfield Pub Co; 3rd edition (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559349735
• ISBN-13: 978-1559349734
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #245,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The truth about government not taught in civics class!, July 22, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Rules America?: Power and Politics in the Year 2000 (Paperback)

I have read the author's two previous versions, "Who Rules America" and "Who Rules America Now", the latter an update of the first. Now I can't wait to get the latest! Clear & concise presentation of de facto governing and power structures at all levels of government. A sane and rational alternative to conspiracy theorist ramblings, this book shows plainly how we the people are not in charge, who is, and how their methods of rule have been legitimized and, even subsidized with our tax dollars. Learn the truth about such not-for-profit think tanks as the Council on Foreign Relations (not as black as you may have heard from the paranoids, but just as powerful and collusive.) Also a great handbook for those who wish to engage local and state power structures for profit and power.

-David T. Darnell, Denver, Colorado

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive Discussion of Power Elite in the U.S., February 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Who Rules America?: Power and Politics in the Year 2000 (Paperback)

This is one of the most detailed and accurate accounts of the power elite model in American politics. Domhoff shows his command of this material by his use of detailed analysis and careful consideration of possible opposing arguments (i.e. pluralist). He systematically proves that there is an elite group of people in this country that,in order to fit their agenda, can dictate government action. He destroys the idea that public opinion has anything to do with political maneuvering, by proving that it is those who have the money who control primaries, elections, and entire administrations. His manifestation of the working man's personal inadequacy myth, due to the individualistic American ideal, makes this book a must read. Domhoff really makes us wonder how feasible the "Amercian Dream" really is.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A ruling oligarchy, July 22, 2004

By 

Luc REYNAERT (Beernem, Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Who Rules America?: Power and Politics in the Year 2000 (Paperback)

There is a minor shift in this new version of G. William Domhoff's magisterial analysis of the US power system.
He adds 'top-level managers' to the power elite, which is composed of the owners of large income-producing properties. He adds also one more question to the three ones quoted in his former book: who shines?
Those income-producing properties are, on the national level, big corporations, banks and agribusinesses and, locally, real estate, construction and land development companies.
The owners and top-level managers constitute at best 1 % of the US population and have an enormous share of all income and wealth in the US.
G. William Domhoff shows clinically how they defend their interests through a small cluster of people and institutions ( a social upper class, a corporate community and a policy-formation network). Individual members (the oligarchy) of the upper class and the corporate community are involved in the policy-formation network. See, as an example, the members of the president G.W. Bush government.
The power elite dominates the two major political parties and the federal government through a coalition of Republicans and rightist Southern Democrats.
Concerning the general public, G. Wiliam Domhoff remarks that it has little or no influence except in times of unpopular wars or domestic social upheavals. He sees no change in the actual situation and predicts that the corporate-conservative coalition is most likely to prevail for a long time.
G. William Domhoff's arguments are extremely powerful. Therefore, this book is an essential read for the comprehension of the political/economical functioning of the US power system.