In the multifaceted American political system, the
elite theory and pluralism theory can be combined to explain the political
process. Special interest groups, the reemergence of the elite, the phenomenon
of the apolitical and political stratum and default of compromise have been
changed with the age of mass global communication. In America, people think
about politics as two different aspects. First, the political spectrum presented
by mainstream media. Secondly, the idea that it doesn’t matter if they
participate and government doesn’t affect them at all. The current economic
crisis changed the complex political system by shaking government and consumer
confidence. However, even with these changes political scientists Robert Dahl
and C. Wright Mills are both right in some sense. Military elite, corporate
elite and interest groups remain powerful. Americans are divided into political
and apolitical strata while compromise is the basis of this democracy. On the
other hand, the current age has proven Dahl and Mills wrong. Educational and
religious institutions are really separate; leaders often only care about
themselves. 24/7 News has born with the
advent of more technology and dissatisfied people are creating groups to
address their grievances.
Certain groups dominate the modern political scene. People’s
needs are ignored at times while the small groups of lobbyists are appeased by
government officials. Interest groups have the power in national, local and state
politics to force people inadvertently to choose a side on a law or proposed
policy. Since the Obama Administration has been in office, influence of special
interests has played out on the floor of Congress in two different instances. Healthcare
reform in 2010 was supposed to bring healthcare to more citizens, but people were
forced to buy private insurance. The law was an uneven proposal because it was
almost co-written by the industry, contradicting the point of the bill: to stop
the abuses of the healthcare industry. Later that year, a major financial
reform bill was signed into law, trying to stop another economic crisis. Like the
healthcare law, the bill was supported by of lobbyists from Wall St, an institution
the law was trying to limit. It’s easy to see that Congress is run by lobbyists
since its makes it hard to get reforms passed. Also it has become extremely
easy for the elite to manipulate members of the federal legislature or any
other part of the federal government.
The elite have reemerged in the American political
woodwork. Mr. Mills’s vision in The Power
Elite of separate corporate and military elite is true. These “leaders” still
occupy high positions of power and use fearmongering as a common tactic. The corporate
overlords distract public with entertainment news, something that’s not
important to their well-being. In addition, they convinced the government to
approve certain mergers while lessening regulation so their profits can
increase dramatically. Meanwhile, the influence of the military elite in
Congress has caused cuts to not be enacted even as their bureaucracy is
becoming a hazard to America’s financial stability. Through the continuation of
certain wars, a permanent war economy is maintained and endless war could
become a reality. Therefore, corporate and military elite coalesce, creating an
interlocking power structure. This country is going bankrupt from expenses that
help the military and corporate overlords prosper. One prominent example is private
military contractors in foreign countries that outnumber U.S. troops. On
another note, the mainstay of the military elite, the Pentagon is so
centralized that it can’t account for ¼ of what is spent. Furthermore, “Too Big
to Fail” corporations dominate the economy while people across the nation are
divided into two major political groups.
Robert Dahl
wrote about in Who Governs?, the division
of people into different strata in America’s political arena. Politically
active people protest injustice while inactive people accept injustice. In the apolitical
stratum is characterized as people blindly ignorant of political issues and
those who think politics is not important to them. At the same time, the
political stratum is the polar opposite with motivated citizenry want to go out
on the street. These people encourage others to get involved through the
blogosphere and other means. Even so, the small supposedly-united groups called
the “Tea Party” are just another aspect of the apolitical spectrum. Those that
participate in these groups mostly have inconsistent opinions and ideologies.
For example, many in these groups are against government healthcare, yet they
support programs like Medicare, a blatant contradiction. These weakly-informed
citizens try to inject themselves into the political mainstream but are mostly
unsuccessful, ridiculed by many others. Despite this, overall political
awareness has grown in recent years with more young people are getting involved
in process whether that is in voting, protesting or blogging. The 2008 election
was highest turnout for young in a very long time, but it doesn’t change the
reality of compromise in the United States.
The default of compromise is accepted by almost
everyone talking about politics or trying to get their point across. It is a time
of divided government and the citizens want everyone in Congress to work
together. However, many bills have favored wealthy and privileged class of
society. America is a country founded on compromise. In the Constitutional
Convention of 1787, two compromises were made between the delegates: the
three-fifths compromise and the great compromise. This created the mentality
that everything must be solved by going for the middle road, taking all ideas
into consideration. This isn’t always the right pathway as the idea you may be
accepting could be wrong and horrible policy. Despite this, the Senate’s limit
of 60 has made agreement required on almost everything passed. Concessions are needed
to pass anything, even a bill about the Post Office. Reform legislation that
was supposed to fix problems in society has been watered down time and time
again. People are getting mad and dismayed as Mr. Dahl predicted. They just
can’t take the endless bargaining anymore and are fed up with government.
Approval rating of Congress is at an all-time low: 14%. Compromise is isolating
the citizenry causing them to be disfranchised of their right to express their
opinion to Congress. As a result, political action groups are popping up
nationwide; something not predicted by either Mr. Dahl or Mr. Mills.
In the modern era, Dahl and Mills have to be tweaked
because their theories won’t be true if something isn’t changed. Both political
scientists were writing in their time, the 1950s and 1960s and before the
digital revolution (1980s-Present). These factors change the ballgame in
political relations. Today, leaders
aren’t always on side of people. Some politicians worry about getting reelected.
Others are influenced by corporate and military elite to vote in certain ways. Educational
and religious institutions have been proven separate from the corporate and
military institutions for the most part. Schools teach people to have
independent minds in their lives. Many different religions such as Unitarian
Universalism preach the seeking of truth in your beliefs. News is more
extensive and rapid in the present with first-hand accounts of events posted on
YouTube that are used by the mainstream media in their reporting. Also the alternative
media is challenging corporate media dominance. All of these changes have
caused people to create groups/pages due to their dissatisfaction with certain
policies on social networks or elsewhere. The increase in political action
could be the return 1960s fervor returned in minds of some young people or expression
could be increasing with the advent of new technology.
Even with the division of America into an apolitical
and political stratum, people are more educated than before. As some users have
said, the internet allows information to disseminate so people can decide for
themselves what they believe. A forum to exchange ideas has been created,
provided that it stays free from censorship or government intervention. On the other hand, elite theory and pluralism
continue to plague efforts to expand democracy to other corners of the globe.
This flawed system is continued in America by societal and corporate-backed
forces of greed. Even with its backers, the political system can be altered in
two major ways: direct action, such as blocking a road to area being logged and
expansion of the blogosphere with “blogger-journalists.” Everywhere around us,
the world is always changing, a place where mass communication networks can be
harnessed and where people must stand up for what they believe.
NOTE: This article/essay was originally for my US Government class but I thought you people would enjoy it.
