Elitist Theory and True Masters of Our World

A small group of people controls American policies and management of government policy. The elite control production, media and corporations and expand their leverage on to the American government. Elitist theory explains this phenomenon well. Are these people the right masters of the world today? The aim of this paper is to examine how the elite can lead the American government and the reasons why people should be aware of this.

Power elitist theory suggests that a small group of people, consisting of the economically elite experts ought to hold power that is independent of the democratic election process. The economically elite hold positions in corporations and the board of the corporations. The high profile positions of the elite in the government organizations influence the decisions of the corporations and government. The general public, which consists of the majority people, have some say in the government polices and decisions despite engaging themselves in elections (Walker 285).

The elite control output of media and corporations in America today to achieve their main economic and political goals. The elite control the media denying it the freedom of the press. The media will produce and broadcast stories that serve the interests of the elite. The stories published or broadcast by the media include propaganda that the elite engineers use to ensure that only policies that favor them are passed, funded and implemented. Elites control mass media by paying editors to highlight success stories that favor the interests of key policy makers. The media companies offer the stories to the general public, which contains the majority of people, tend to agree with the stories and in turn maybe vote for the policies. Policies strategized by the elite group favor their groups. The propaganda also prevents the general public from knowing the real truth of any subject as the material in the media is not true. The lack of understanding of the truth of any situation leaves the general public with little or no information to make informed decisions. The influence by the elite in policy making directly influences how the council works (Dye 1).

The elite sustain the economy of a country in the sense that the elite constitutes of wealthy people. The wealthy people tend to finance campaigns of their preferred political candidates. The elite funds campaigns on the promise that the candidate would protect their interests once on the political seat. With many resources for the campaign, the political leaders will certainly glide through the elections. The representatives have been given the right by everyone to take control of making central government decisions on their behalf of people. In times of decision making, the elite come up to influence the decision the president is making. The promise made by the leader holds the administrator to what the elite want. In some occasions, the elite provide leaders with resources for personal use. In time of need, when the elite need a favor from the government, they spend the money as blackmail to have their way (Walker 285).

The elite separate themselves from the ordinary people forming a class of their own. The nation does equally have a stereotypical perspective of the elite whom they perceive to be more intelligent and talented. Hence, the common people are likely to think they lack expertise and capacity to self governance. Therefore, the elites make instructional decisions that affect the distribution of government funds in the economy. The elite also lose most when there is a failure in the government. The public and the elected leaders consider these factors and make the elite influence government decisions even with the full knowledge that a certain group of people is influencing the decisions (Bottomore 59).

Elites direct progress and commercial projects that the government has to support. Furthermore, elites have enough funds to purchase lobbyists and critics to control how the council agenda is run. If the government is to develop a momentous decision, the elite may request to be part of the decision making (Bottomore 59). The elite might threaten to withdraw the funds aimed to support foundations if the government does not include them in the decision making. Due to the importance of some of these organizations the government might decide to include the elite in the decision making.

The elite involve themselves in many charitable organizations. The aim of the elite is to blind the general public of their evil deeds. The charitable deeds make the general public believe that the elect are exceptionally talented and generous people. The general public, therefore, tend to give the elite to keep the government. Misplaced trust of the elite by the general public has obviously influenced the government as they have the support of the state to fund their plans (Dye 1).

The elite pressure the government in order to develop their personal or group interests. Mostly, the interests of the elite are ways and methods of gaining more resources and protecting what they already have. The elite do whatever they can to meet their interests. Government usually takes into consideration the elites proposals depending on the amount the elites venture to finance and direct regime awarding of money funded commercial projects. Elite intervention is to make sure the government remains strong though the actions can also ruin to the nation. For these reasons, there is a requirement of understanding among people who have the democratic privilege of taking part in every decision by the government. The elite’s impact on the government denies the other people this democratic right (Bottomore 59).

Conclusion

The elite people are guaranteed of an unlimited access and control over policy formulation within the government structure of the United States. Their main strategy is aimed at denying the general public their democratic right to be involved in decision making and governance. Therefore, the true masters of this world are the elite. The obsession of the elite with control of policy making and the government may lead to serious problems in America.