The Power Elite Model

An elite is considered as the few in any organization or society who have power. (pg. 1)

Executive Compensation. I’m in agreement with Thomas Piketty that the one cause of rising inequality in the United States “the rise of supersalaries” for top executives (Piketty & Goldhammer, 2014, p. 298). The average American estimates CEO to worker pay ratio at about 30-to-1, which is more than 4 times what they believe to be ideal. The career review site Glassdoor reported from 2014 data that the average pay ratio of CEO to median worker was 204-to-1 and that at the top of the list, four CEOs earn more than 1,000 times the salary of their median worker with the very top pay ratio of 1,951-to-1. In some cases a CEO makes in one-hour what it takes the average employee six-months to earn. In comparison, the Washington Post reported for the

The last issue concerning wealth inequality is the health and well being of the lower class. The high rates of social problems: lower rates of performance in school, life expectancy, incarceration, teenage pregnancy along with health problems like obesity and heart disease are directly effected by the United States high inequality. The reason for poor school performance is that children of the lower class typically do not plan on going to college because they cannot afford it. If they do not plan on going to college, they don’t believe there is a reason to put a lot of effort and succeed in high school.

Imagine living in a world that consistently devalues your existence and is heavily populated with individuals who are quick to use and abuse your resources, but are slow to share the wealth that is accumulated from those resources. How would you feel? Unfortunately, certain populations do not have to visualize the disparity that is pictured above. This is because inequity is one of the most demoralizing social issues that plague America today. The worst thing about inequity is the fact that it continues to disproportionately burden individuals who are categorize as being minority in today’s society.

High income inequality prevents an economy from growing, so the current status of the wealth gap in the U.S. is dangerous to the future of the U.S. economy. In fact, the average income of the top 10% of the United States population is roughly nine times greater than the average income of the poorest 10% of the population (OECD). This widening wealth gap is a problem of extreme importance and failure to recognize it may lead to social problems such as a rise in crime and overall social unrest. A continuing rise in this wealth gap affects all U.S. citizens as the bottom 99% may lose opportunities in education and be exposed to more crime, and the top 1% may lose consumers as no one will be able to afford their products. Furthermore, due to this rising gap, ordinary children of the masses, who are from the bottom 40%, are being denied to educational opportunities because they cost more money (Ingraham). Regardless if a child is born into a wealthy or poor family, they are still born with the same attributes; however, it is income inequality that creates inequality in educational opportunities for children, which threatens the overall educational status quo of the nation. A major wealth gap in any society is strongly associated with significant problems such as greater poverty levels, more crime, and even poor conditions of health (Partridge and Weinstein).

In this class we have talked a lot about how certain racial and ethnic inequalities and how they are not equal to that of the white population, these include, African Americans, Hispanic, and some other ethnic groups. On average an “African American family makes a median income of about $35,000 compared to that of whites at $55,000”, African Americans are unemployed more often then whites too. (Etizen, 198, 201). These disparities cause many problems and one is for African Americans to not be able to have a decent job, (or any job for that matter), access to healthcare and many other tangible items that whites have. I looked at this specific topic in a conflict perspective because, its is the high power elite that keep racial disparities going

The gap between caucasian and non caucasian families has nearly tripled. In the last 25 years, total wealth gaps average from $85,000 in 1984 too $236,500 in 2009. A factor that fits into this number is inheritance and financial support from family and friends. Another part of the this racial injustice is the inequality of education. Just to scratch the surface of the issue, where people were born, raised and academic opportunities widens this gap between discriminated races and those that are not. Even though some of these inequalities are being combated, racial injustice welcome help and change in correcting this issue in this

“1]. How does social inequality impact people of different nationalities [ethnicities & races], classes, and genders in society.”

Inequality is one of the biggest problems facing our country today. The wealthiest 1% of Americans have as much financially as the poorest 50% of Americans. Many people in this country are working hard every day and are barely able to make ends meet. The voice of the poorest in this country is being ignored in favor of the voice of the wealthy. Most Americans do not desire to be poor but they are not given the chance and the resources to overcome poverty.

Social and economic inequalities tear the social fabric, undermine social cohesion, contribute to environmental problems and prevent nations, communities and individuals from flourishing (Pickett, 2015).

Elites are people who get more of society’s valuables, such as wealth and respect (Wasserman, pg. 4). Power is “the ability to influence another’s behavior” (Wasserman, pg. 3). It can be through rewards, coercion, or persuasion. Legitimate power is power that is “accepted as right” (Wasserman, pg. 4) or chose by using an agreed upon procedure (Wasserman, pg. 5), or authority deserving obedience (Wasserman, pg. 5). Elites gain authority and authority gains power. People feel they should follow authority. This power and authority control politics. If elites are expected to get the most and are the ones who gain authority, etc., then the problem of economic inequality will affect the U.S. by lowering the number of people with legitimate power.

This group of elites can efficiently order the goals for all or nearly all significant government policy making. They may also lead the actions of educational organizations and mass media in today’s society. Their power can easily be seen by their financial resources and also on their rankings among the top of the big corporations, and believe it or not, it does not depend on whether or not they can gain large amounts of support through labors to embody interests and the good of social groups in the United States. The elitist theorists and a large portion of Americans believe, that this country cannot be run by powerless masses of average voters to chose a leader well fit to lead our nations in the right direction.

There are so many important issues affecting the United States today ranging from illegal migration and undercover economy to the current dramatic rising cost of health care that is projected to shortly account for more than 50 percent of all economic transactions. However, even though most of them have lacked sound resolutions hence their persistence, the most critical issue for our time that has been under-discussed is the rising income and growing resource disparity between people of different classes. In any healthy society, the gap between the poor and the rich should be narrow and should be reduced from time to time. Despite the US government and the opposition party knowing about it, nobody has come out with a concrete plan to eliminate

On the other hand Elites are the individuals in our country who possess positions of power. They participate in “decisions that allocate resources for society” (Schubert, 49). These resources can include jobs, news, education, laws. America has an open elite system, which allows persons of great talent to enter the elite. The national elite system also follows the revolving door policy: elites moving from one branch to the other. There is three

Interlocking directorates knowing as the linkages among corporations created by members of elite group who control on two or more corporate.it have been the center of political and sociological interest since the early 20th century. This website shows the relationships of the US ruling class including the most powerful, dominant and influential companies in the united State. http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/corporate_community.html.this we can see this clearly in the power elite models of explanation. Interlocking directorates is simply one of the aspect of elite domination in society. For example in 1845 a group known as "Boston Associates," owned over 31 companies that providing 20 percent of the national industry production. 17 members of this Boston associates served as directors of Boston banks that have 40 percent of the city's banking capital, the other members were directors of some insurance companies, railroad companies (Dalzell, 1987). http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/corporate_community.html