The Power Elite

Americans subscribe to a belief that political power is balanced, with competing, relatively equal interests reaching political compromises. The economy, it is also assumed, functions automatically with multiple and competitive actors. This model of power does not fit the mid-20th -century US. At most, it is a “recognizable, although a confused, statement of the middle levels of power” (244). Indeed, middle level powers, which include the realm of electoral politics, receive undue attention, obscuring the bigger picture view of the top and bottom layers of power. Interest groups, often called pressure groups, are not equal in bargaining power. Rural and urban business is incorporated into the agencies of government or associated with small and powerful cliques. Large corporations, meanwhile, conceal such associations behind a public-relations front to disguise their power.

Balance of power theory focuses mainly on Congress. Members of Congress represent local interests and attempt to placate competing interests in their constituencies. As a result, the members do not adhere to any firm principles. Mills writes that they tend to be mediocre party professionals who manage to accumulate power via their longevity in office. Their campaigns do not address national issues; instead, they trivialize public life through personal attacks on their opponents.