Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Power in Democracy
After reading the text, I have to agree with C. Wright Mills' theory about the power elite. Clearly, the effects of globalization have included the conglomeration of businesses into large corporations who have most of the control of the economy. In America, it seems that these corporations have most of the influence in the political realm and are gaining even more influence. The book comments about how the government is losing control over processes that are involved in the increasingly global economy, also called the legitimation crisis. It seems that the government cannot control large corporations and also doesn't have enough money available to help counter the effects of corporations' decisions to save money by moving their production plants to countries with cheaper labor. Because of this, people are losing faith in the government. The large corporations monetarily support the few powerful elite politicians who support policies that contribute to the corporations.
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I agree with your assessment of influence that the political elite have, not just with our government, but on the international level which we saw when we explored Walmart. I think, to a degree, it goes beyond the corporations themselves, but it is the individuals at the top of these giant companies that possess this unprecedented power to have a level of control worldwide that globalization has made possible. As for the few elite politicians that you mention, many of them probably had a level of influence prior to being elected. It will be interesting to see how things further evolve over the next ten years or so. Good post.
ReplyDeleteI too agree with your assessment. I just wonder what the solution to this issue is. Globalization and cheap labor overseas are something that we definitely can't control, and I think it is up for debate whether or not we should even try to control them.
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