Power elite

The concept of power elites called elites , resulting from actors put together in different social fields, based on the (possibly shared) access to power forward (= negative social sanctions ) to enforce decisions in favor of their interests that have national or international impact .

A contrast to the “power elite” is the “performance elite”; Performance elites are able to enforce decisions based on special (technical or functional) performance.

Power elite theory

The term essentially goes back to Charles Wright Mill's study The Power Elite (1956), in which he examined the elites in the United States . According to Mills, the power elite only emerged in the United States through concentration processes as part of the New Deal . The power elite is composed of a power triangle ( The Triangle of Power ) made up of elite circles from politics, the military and the economy. Mills observed that the influential people of these fields usually a top university had visited, were members of the same exclusive club, and that they often within their narrow circle married .

While Mills only assumed a power triangle, later social scientists have emphasized the importance of other sectors that have gained in importance in recent years. In addition to exerting direct influence on politics, more research was carried out into how power elites tried to create a “ cultural hegemony ” ( Gramsci ) by influencing the public .

According to G. William Domhoff , the guidelines of politics ( policy formation process ) in the United States are determined by a system of reality production, which has been established through the cooperation of economically dependent universities, think tanks and foundations . Also Pierre Bourdieu taught with its publications the view of the importance of social areas such as science and the media for the composition of today's power elites.

According to Rainer Geißler , power elites are made up of nine sectoral elites who are important decision-makers in the following sectors: politics, administration, justice, economy, trade unions, mass media, culture, science and the military. The Power Structure Research tries to analyze the interdependencies of the power elites.

Criticism of the term "power elite"

In the early 1960s, the liberal sociologist Ralf Dahrendorf criticized Mill's approach as a shift from class to elite, yes to conspiratorial theory . Marxists also criticized Mills' approach, such as his friend Ralph Miliband , who contrasted the concept of the power elite with that of the "ruling class" in The State in Capitalist Society in 1969 .

See also

• Bilderberg Conference

literature

• C. Wright Mills : The Power Elite , 1956 excerpts
  • German edition: Die Machtelite , Westend, Frankfurt am Main 2019 ISBN 978-3-86489-270-7 .
• G. William Domhoff : Who Rules America? Power, Politics, and Social Change , 1967 ISBN 0-07-287625-5 .
• Marcus B. Klöckner: Power elites and elite circles. A sociological discussion , VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, Saarbrücken 2007, ISBN 978-3-8364-1332-9 .
• Urs Jaeggi : Power and Rule in the Federal Republic , Frankfurt am Main / Hamburg 1969.
• Hans Jürgen Krysmanski : Shepherds & Wolves. How money and power elites appropriated the world , 2004 on the Internet .
• Anatol Rapoport : The class interests of the intellectuals and the power elite .
• Rainer Rilling : In search of the lost bourgeoisie. Aspects of US elite research in 1982 on the Internet .

Web links

• C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite, 1956
• C. Wright Mills, Structure of Power in American Society, British Journal of Sociology, Vol.9.No.1 1958 (PDF; 1.43 MB)
• G. William Domhoff: Who rules America?
• HJKrysmanski: Power Structure Research. Descriptive models of the ruling classes today. 2004
• Survey on the relevance of networks (power elites) for advancement to top positions

Footnotes

1. ^ Charles Wright Mills (2000): The Power Elite , p. 18.
2. ↑ Marcus B. Klöckner (2007): Power elites and elite circles p. 40 ff
3. ↑ Rainer Geißler: Role of the elites in society , in: Social change in Germany. Information on political education (issue 324) 2014 [1]
4. ↑ Ralf Dahrendorf: The applied enlightenment. Society and Sociology in America. Piper, Munich 1962.