Power Structure Research

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Power Structure Research (German translation: power structure research ) is a branch of elite research . The aim of the Power Structure Research is to describe the power and privilege structures of the power elite , the formal and informal social networks , in which a great deal of power is concentrated and institutionalized , as well as the relationship between power and wealth in a descriptive manner as up-to-date as possible.

Historical development

Modern power structure research has its roots in the radical social movements in the United States of the 1960s and 1970s. It began with Charles Wright Mills ' (1916–1962) analysis The Power Elite, published in 1956 . In this book, Mills provides an analysis according to which the few rich families after the Second World War merged into a new elite, the corporate rich , into which also parts of the political, military, scientific and media elite were absorbed. Other influencing factors for the development of Power Structure Research were:

Research subject

The Power Structure Research assumes that there are networks of several thousand people in which the most important state , parliamentary and legislative activities are pre-decided. The subject of research are therefore the elements of these relationships, in particular

The focus of interest is - according to Hans Jürgen Krysmanski - in the order

  1. the group of the rich and super-rich and their social and cultural networks
  2. the finance manager
  3. the dependencies of the political class and parties on the power elite

The Who rules? Website - An Internet Guide to Power Structure Research lists six points of attack for Power Structure Research :

Elements of Power Structure Research

Power Structure Research is primarily done by scientists. In addition, by journalists, researchers from the trade unions and from the social movements . So far, research has been through intensive use of libraries and archives, monitoring the press, sifting through government documents, and interviews with insiders . The research for this research is nowadays supplemented by intensive internet research.

Exemplary results

According to Hans Jürgen Krysmanski , the structure of the power elites can be summarized as follows:

Functional context of power elites under the aspect of their role in the system of production relations (property, exploitation, distribution, labor relations)
Ownership Exploitation relationships Distribution ratios working conditions
Ownership Money elite Exploitation elites (e.g. banks) Distribution elites (political directorate) Knowledge elites (e.g. clubs)
Exploitation relationships Exploitation elites (e.g. CEOs) Exploitation elites (e.g. fixers) Distribution elites (round tables) Knowledge elites (think tanks)
Distribution ratios Distribution elites (policy groups) Distribution elites (policy groups) Distribution elites (parties) Knowledge elites (foundations)
working conditions Knowledge elites (finance experts) Knowledge elites (economics experts) Knowledge elites (e.g. media) Knowledge elites (social scientists)
(HJKrysmanski: Power Structure Research: Descriptive Models of the Ruling Classes Today)

The core of this functional context is the “money elite”, around them the ring of “exploitation power” is formed, around it the ring of “distribution power” and on the very outside there is the “layer of technocrats and service providers”.

Most important representatives of power structure research

literature

  • G. William Domhoff : Who Rules America? (= A Spectrum Book. 167, ZDB -ID 1068482-7 ). Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs NJ 1967.
  • Michael Hartmann : Elite Sociology. An introduction (= social science study library. 2). Campus, Frankfurt am Main et al. 2004, ISBN 3-593-37439-0 .
  • Floyd Hunter : Community Power Structure. A Study of Decision Makers. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill NC 1953.
  • Marcus B. Klöckner: Power elites and elite circles. A sociological discussion. VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, Saarbrücken 2007, ISBN 978-3-8364-1332-9 .
  • Hans-Jürgen Krysmanski : Shepherds & Wolves. How money and power elites appropriate the world. 2nd, thoroughly revised and expanded edition. Westfälisches Dampfboot, Münster 2009, ISBN 978-3-89691-602-0 (The 1st edition 2004 is available as an online version under the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1).
  • Hans Jürgen Krysmanski: 0.1% - The billionaire empire . Completely revised new edition. Westend, Frankfurt am Main 2015, ISBN 978-3-86489-090-1 .
  • C. Wright Mills : The Power Elite. Oxford University Press, New York NY 1956.
  • Thorstein Veblen : Theory of the Leisure Class. An Economic Study in the Evolution of Institutions. Macmillan, New York NY 1899.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b H.J. Krysmanski: Power Structure Research: Descriptive Models of the Ruling Classes Today . Retrieved December 29, 2009.