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Back to Subjects - Political Science

Elite

Elite The global economy has become like a malignant cancer, advancing the colonization of the planet's living spaces for the benefit of powerful corporations and financial institutions. It has turned these once useful institutions into instruments of a market tyranny that is destroying livelihoods, displacing people, and feeding on life in an insatiable quest for money. It forces us all to act in ways destructive of ourselves, our families, our communities, and nature. Human survival depends on a community-based, people-centered alternative beyond the failed extremist ideologies of communism and capitalism. This alternative is already being created through the initiatives of millions of people around the world who are taking back control of their lives and communities to create places where people can live and grow in balance with the living earth. When Corporations Rule the World provides an agenda of national and global reforms by which we may reclaim our power to localize our economies while globalizing our consciousness. But in my eyes, Corporations and government have intermingled. And government controls our life, so business and corporations will control they way of life. Elitist theory holds that the majority of political power is held by a relatively small and wealthy group of people, which share similar principles and interests. Most members of this group are born into affluent families. The majority of top leaders in the United States come from this privileged group. The power elite utilizes a variety of resources to dictate public policy. These individuals tend to hold top management positions within big corporations. These corporations are used as a powerful tool to dominate the political arena. Corporations are granted immense power, which they use, to protect their own interests, as well as, shape the interests of ordinary citizens. "Humans are motivated by self interests, which is expressed primarily through the quest for financial gain" (70) The economic control of corporations plays an essential role in public policy. Depending on how they choose to play the game, large corporations dictate to economic conditions. Politicians must accommodate corporate interests to protect our sensitive economy. These accommodations can be called "corporatism". Big businesses receive a privileged position by donating huge amounts of money and support to politicians and their political parties. This monetary support buys access into the system. This access, known as corporate welfare, can be achieved in the forms of favored rates on goods and commodities, higher interest bond issues, tariff protections, emergency funding, tax breaks and incentives, guaranteed investments, and weak safety standards. The rewards are endless, and they must be worth something because corporations spend a tremendous amount of money to obtain them. Corporations have existed as early as the eighteenth century. The framework of the constitution protects corporations through its' interpretation of property rights. Our constitution was founded on a principle that the rights of people with property have to be privileged. It is true that the framework defended the rights of people, but rights were distributed, even more so, to people who owned property. The framers of the constitution were hardly democratic. They represented their own, personal, privileged, economic interests. Our founding fathers had a direct interest to establish a government that would protect their holdings and investments. The guiding light of the constitution, that still exists today, is class' interest. Privileged powers are protected by, and set a side for, the power elite. In the United States, affluence and power is attained by wealth and social status. Unavoidably, this power is passed onto the common citizen. "It is not a matter of a small elite group meeting in secret to craft a master plan for taking over the world. It works much more like any networking or shared culture building process out of which alliances among individuals and groups emerge and evolve: (133) Corporations exercise their power to protect their own interests. In doing so, they effect the economical, social, and political make-up of society. This power is unique, and is reserved for only a few. The United States is admired for its' ideals of equality and opportunity. Yet, in reality, the United States is a far cry from being democratic. The problem is that groups do not compete on a level playing field. Large corporations enjoy a massive superiority compared to smaller businesses, small interest groups, grassroots organizations, and individual voters. It is the tightly woven relationship between big business and government that prevents true democracy. Economic influence is a magic wand used by large corporations to get their wishes granted. According to Ralph Miliband," businesses control the key areas of economic life which makes it extremely difficult for governments to impose upon it policies to which it is firmly opposed." (1969:p59) In other words, corporations dictate policy whether government likes it or not. Business decisions have a yielding effect on the state of the economy. Choosing to disinvest, downsize, relocate, or, decrease production, often has a negative impact on the economy. According to Korten " Government.... Because of its ability to command resources, it is insulted from market forces and the discipline those forces impose. Thus government is generally less efficient in the production of goods and services than are organizations whose survival depends on their ability to compete in the marketplace. Government's competence is in reallocating wealth-" (97)For, if business is government's customer, then is business always right? Miliband suggests, that in abstract, the array of powers and influences utilized by business are combated by the equated powers and influences obtained by government. In reality, government has minimal resources for self-protection. Big corporations are the backbone of government. Without corporate donations, politicians would not be able to effectively secure positions in government. The success of a political campaign highly depends upon efficient funding. As politicians except huge contributions to enhance their chances of winning, corporations contribute money to enhance their personal interests. Perhaps corporations should not be regarded with a negative connotation. Rather, the system itself should be blamed for encouraging these corrupted relationships. Lindblom suggests that the relationships between businesses and government are reciprocal. These relationships lend to the idea that government makes certain choices that benefit corporations, with hopes to assist the economy. Many choices made by government are favored towards the large corporations. However, these very decisions persuade corporations to reciprocate decisions that benefit the economy. For, it is when the economy is on hard times, that citizens scrutinize their representatives. As already stated, corporations can choose to negatively impact the economy by decreasing productivity, mobilizing outside of the country, downsizing, and, in turn, lead the United States into a recession. To guard their prominent positions, politicians are forced to represent the interests of corporations. Corporations will continue to play an integral role in our political system because so much emphasis is placed on the economy. Free enterprise and public policy are indivisible. One cannot be separated from the other. Instead, society must come to terms with the idea that politics is business, business is dirty, and therefore politics is a dirty business. This is not to say that the ordinary citizen always loses. Certain policies that deal with issues, such as health and the environment, manage to defeat big business. Despite the major efforts of corporations, policy reforms were initiated that hindered big businesses, to benefit the environment. The privileged position that corporations receive makes sense. These groups participate more. They are more actively involved in the process than any other group. Large corporations utilize their resources to fund interest groups, form special relationships with politicians, and are more informed than the ordinary citizen. Their access places them into a unique position, whereas, large corporations are able to browbeat government. Out of fear, government is forced to share decision-making with corporate bullies. As long as this relationship continues, democratic policy-making will be an impossible goal to attain. Corporate giants will continue to interfere with policy initiatives that fight pollution, encourage equality, heighten safety standards, and improve our overall quality of life. For money runs this country, and the one with the most money usually wins. Bibliography:

Word Count: 1339