Ch 8: Elites, the Capitalist Class, and Political Power

specific institutional bases of power

Elite theories often focus on ______.

the modern corporation, the executive branch of the federal government, and the military establishment

Mills's conception of the national power structure centered on the growing significance of three major interlocking institutions. These are ______.

political action committees

Registered ______ are created under the provisions of the campaign finance laws to regulate group political donations.

has been subject to civilian elites since the period of the American Revolution

One conception of Mills that evoked the most skepticism was the idea of the military as a separate, more or less autonomous, elite. A major reason for the skepticism includes the fact that the American military ______.

social-psychological mechanisms and structural mechanisms

Mills suggested two ways in which the three distinct elites might be melded into one single, internally cohesive power elite. These are ______.

elite cohesion

What is the extent to which the members of a hypothesized elite hang together in pursuit of common objectives and in opposition to other groups called?

national capitalists; local capitalists

A traditional division within the capitalist class, in terms of its economic aspects, has been between the following two groups: ______ and ______.

class

What perspective is primarily concerned about the identity of the rulers and the structure that creates them?

elite

What perspective is concerned with the distinction between an organized minority that rules and an unorganized majority that is ruled?

pluralistic

What perspective denies that power is concentrated in one group and instead finds multiple bases of power representing the interest of competing groups?