a. Degree to which a community or nation has the capacity to perform effectively in pursuing its common goals. (2)
b. The ability of a group or social class within a community or nation to be successful in conflicts with its rivals on issues of concern to it. (3)
2. Matrices of power
a. Economic
b. Political
c. Military
d. Ideological
3. Indicators of power
a. Who Benefits?
i. High Income and great wealth
1. Wealth and Income do not have a 1 to 1 relationship to power, just relative power
b. Who Governs?
i. Over and under representation in government signifies relative power
c. Who Wins?
i. Impossible to flat-out identify
ii. Four processes used to “win” generally
1. Special Interests
2. Policy Planning
3. Opinion Shaping
4. Candidate Selection
4. What is a social class?
a. Americans assume class implies a permanent station in life
b. Conversations of class in America occurred through vacuous terms
5. Class according to social scientists
a. Economic and Social
Chapter 2
6. The Corporate Community
a. Drawn close because they are all opposed for similar reasons
b. Organization occurs through two central mechanisms
i. Trade associations
ii. Business associations
7. Origins of the Corporate Community
a. Originated through jointly owned textile companies in New England (18)
b. Simultaneously, wealthy investors in major cities developed commonly owned companies (19)
8. Reasons for Organization
a. Competition regulation
b. Legal protection
9. Interlocks
a. Interlocks reflect changing power dynamics
b. Major changes in interlocks from 1904-1970
i. Railroads
ii. Manufacturing Firms
iii. Corporate independence from banks
10. Board of Directors
a. Exact role varies
b. Major duty is to hire and fire executives
c. Represent the interface between the corporations and the upper class in the United States
11. Private Owned Corporations and Financial Companies
a. Not necessarily connected to the rest of the corporate community
12. Defense Companies
a. Defense contractors are often the largest corporations
b. Defense contractors are completely integrated into the corporate community
c. Inextricably linked—defense budget rises and falls with GDP
13. Corporate Lawyers
a. Operate as facilitators for the corporate community
14. Agrifood
a. Decline in competition over the years shifted the farms from popular movement to interest group status
15. Small Businesses
a. Lack the volume to be proper counterweights to the corporate community
i. Employ less people and are responsible for less of GDP
16. Structural Power
a. Major businesses are connected enough to be a corporate community
b. No other economic interest can counterweight the corporate community
c. Directors of companies form cohesiveness through numerous interactions
Discussion Question
What benefits do interlocks serve to stabilizing the upper class?
What is the significance of the corporate community's direct influence over most American's economic well-being? (P39).
Clarification Question
Why is wealth not the perfect indicator of class? CHAPTER 3 (Blake L., Emma D, Sarah E.) Corporate Community and the Upper Class
Social Cohesion
basis for the formation of the upper class
Status Power
the conversion of economic power
Is there an American Upper Class?
The constant survival up upper class social institutions
Methods of establishing the existence of upper-class institutions
flaws to methods
False Positives
False Negatives
Challenges to methodology
presentation of self
Prepping for Power: ways to gain social capital, making connections
Private School Education
Preschool
day school
bording school
private school
private higher education (Ivies)
Total Institutions
seperatness and superiority
Cultural Capital
Social Clubs: maintaining connections
maintains social cohesion through:
exclusion
overlapping networks
The Bohemian Grove as a Place of Affirmation and Renewal
the microcosm of the upper class
reaffirm class values and creates solidarity
Feminine Half of the Upper Class: equally elite but not equal
Separate social spaces
Schools
Sororities
Junior League
Debutant
Role after development
Volunteering
Fundraising
Board members for civic organizations
Expected to maintain role of being a mother and wife
Dropouts, Failures, and Change Agents
Continuity and Upward Mobility
Horatio Algers myth
Myth of the American dream
Dangers of the exception story
Is the Upper Class an Economic Class?
Distribution of wealth and income
Wealth
Marketable assets
Income
Wages, dividends, bonds, insurance and bank accounts minus debts
More sensitive power indicator
The Upper Class and Corporate Control Family Ownership
Family involvement, continuity, and connections to top corporations
The Family Office
Concentrated wealth
Wields more power
Holding Companies and Investment Partnerships
Maintaining and extending dynasties
Where do Corporate Executives Come From?
Upper classes disinterest in daily running of their corporation
More interest in managing funds and growing personal wealth
The Assimilation of Rising Corporate Executives
View the Upper Class and an aspiration
Begins in education extends after beginning the corporate career
Socially and economically assimilating
Class Awareness
Effect of “justified privilege”
Capitalist class and social class
General Class Perspective
Clarifying Question: Why is the upper class a capitalist (economic) class not just a social class?
Discussion Questions:
How do family offices and the managerial class impact the role of the upper elites?
What is the benefit of hiding personal indicators of privilege?
Chapter 3 (Logan, Nate, Quinn)
Private Schools
Essential places for children to learn what it is to be upper class
Incredible machines for feeding into Ivy League Universities
Almost all Presidents have gone to a high-class boarding school or private school
Social Clubs
Important places for building social capital and social connections
Highly exclusive and selective, members must be vetted thoroughly
Bohemian Grove especially important for many male high-class citizens, an exclusive and highly ritualistic place to relax and unwind
Country clubs are the dominant social club
Women's Roles
Many find connections through prestigious sororities or other groups
Have to make do with a male dominated society and form clubs of their own.
Drop Outs
People perceive drop outs as an indicator of upward mobility
However, most prominent drop outs were from high-class families going to prestigious schools
Corporate Executives
Closely tied to the old families of the upper class, most of them either come from there or have connections in them
Discussion Question:
How does the combination of social networks with economic power enable the upper class to perpetuate itself, while at the same time maintaining its power?
Clarifying Questions:
What are the examples of the intersection between the upper class and the corporate community? How does it benefit and perpetuate the upper class?
Day 1 Discussion Mapping (Members: )
Map
Day 1 Clarification Questions (Members: )
Questions
Chapter 4 (Members: Andy Monserud, Nathan Gruenberg, Sam Jacobson)
Who Rules America? The Policy Planning Network:
Public opinion does not generally agree with corporate community on every policy initiative.
How the upper class and corporate communities shape policy:
finance the organizations that are at the core of these efforts.
provide a variety of free services for some of the organizations in the network (e.g. legal and accounting help, advertisements, consulting.
serve as directors and trustees of these organizations.
Upper-class and corporate interests are represented by the “power elite,” a heavily involved subset of the corporate community.
Policy discussion groups:
Council on Foreign Relations
Directors of council were more likely to be members of the upper class.
Funded by large corporations..
Committee for Economic Development
Comprised mainly of corporate leaders.
Works through study groups that refer to academic advisors.
The Conference Board
Primary interest in doing research for the corporate community itself.
Policy groups have two important functions within the power elite:
Provide training for new leadership
Provide informal recruiting to decide which academics are best for governmental service.
Functions of policy groups to society:
paint their members as selfless individuals in pursuit of national interests.
influence the climate of opinion in Washington and the U.S
Think Tanks:
They provide the expertise (86)
Attract academics by offering lucrative grants, etc.
There are only a few major ones
Brookings Institution, American Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation
Universities:
“Universities provide resources and recruits for the corporate community and its critics” (100)
Thus only those experts from universities who work for think tanks or consult for policy-discussion groups in the policy-planning networks are relevant to the corporate side of the power equation.
Only those who come to have major roles within the policy-planning network are part of the leadership group, the power elite. (100)
“They are wrong more often than they are right. They are as likely to screen out information that does not fit with their biases and sense of self-importance as everyone else.”(87)
Clarification Questions:
How exactly do these discussion groups and think tanks actually influence policy?
Discussion Questions:
Where does Domhoff lie in the material versus ideological argument? Does he differ from Marx?
Just as many universities and academic settings play a part in this pervasive system, Whitman plays a part in this structure as well. For example, Microsoft recently donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to create a computer science program at Whitman. Is this an example of how the corporate elite infiltrates the academic setting?
Chapter 4: (Members: Valentina Lopez-Cortes, Ione Fullerton, Emma Graham)
Chapter 4- The Shaping of Policy General Argument: “In chapter 4 it will be shown that corporations and corporate leaders finance and direct a network of tax-free foundations, policy-discussion groups, think tanks, and other organizations that formulate policy alternatives and attempt to shape the social and political climate.” (13)
His purpose within chapter 4 is to describe how organizations are used by corporate communities to create a policy planning process where they convey their policy preferences to political parties/ government. This process/ network demonstrates how independant experts participate in power the power equation. Outline: Goes through all the features of which the policy planning process through which societal groups can present their agendas. Features~ 4 basic ways Finance central organizations provide free legal and accounting (and other services )for these organizations serve as trustees- select operational managers and decided general direction of organizations take part or act as participants of the groups in the Networks Policy Planning Network- the following organizations of the policy planning network are intertwined with one another along with the corporate community in trustees, funding, and ideas in planning. This is how the corporate community shapes government policy.
foundations
defined as tax free institutions created to give grants to both individuals and organization for activities (Is the means that allows the wealthy/ corporations to dictate how tax payments are spent)
four basic types of foundations
independant- created by families, relatively small and local, serve a variety of purposes
corporate- funded yearly by major corporations
community- local, designed to aid charities, voluntary associations, & special projects (funding from variety of sources)
operating- used to finance specific projects/ exhibits/ museums (not important for the policy planning process)
~Ford Example demonstrates how a foundation can become so committed to a specific issue and it can create specific organizations to facilitate projects that relate to that issue.
think tanks
defined as are non-profit organizations that provide setting for experts in various academic disciplines to devote their time to studying policy alternatives.
Where most research and brainstorming for the network happens
Four Major think tanks
Brookings Institution
The American Enterprise Institute
The Urban Institute
The Rand Corp.
University Research Institutes
groups within universities in which professors advise, teach, and train experts who later may become within think tanks
not direct part of policy planning network made up of diverse faculty and students- intellectually with political orientation
important to power equation, because Universities educate future leaders
policy discussion groups
defined as non partisan groups that combine corporate executives, lawyers, academic experts, university administrators, gov officials, and media specialists to talk about problems, trade, and policies.
functions for the corporate community
provide setting where corporate leaders can talk to think tanks and university research institutes about policy issues
provides spaces where discussion can happen between liberals and conservatives
provides training space for new leaders
provides informal recruitment space for future policy experts.
functions for rest of society
creates legitimate image that members are capable of government service
conveys concerns and goals of corporate community to experts and professors. Creates space for connections for these two parties
creates space for media such as books, policy statements, and so forth that might influence opinion of washington & country
Examples-varying members of the policy planning network include:
The council on foreign relations
The committee for economic development- not policy organization
Business Council
Business Roundtable
liberal labor policy network
the power elite
Define Power Elite- is made up of people who are directors and trustees of organizations controlled by the corporate community. Clarification Question- How do local foundations make themselves heard within the policy network? Discussion Question- How might race and gender influence who is able to participate in the power elite?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day 2 Text Mapping (Members: Jenny, Andrew, Nick)
Map
Chapter 5
The Role of Public Opinion Andrew, Jenny, Nick 9/20
Text Mapping
The Opinion-Shaping Network
The power elite spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually to shape public opinion in favor of their policies
Public relations firms began in the 1920s and have expanded rapidly
Utilize advertising, mass media, and grassroots agents to attempt to sway public opinion
Influence public schools, churches, and activism programs through financial donations
Defend corporate policy by reinforcing the American belief system: laissez-faire liberalism
Individualism, free markets, equal opportunity, small government, states’ rights
“The American Dream”
In the early 20th century there was a schism between liberals over the segregation of African Americans and power of workers unions
This lead to the splitting of liberals and conservatives
Employ a rhetoric of “self-blame”, in which the underlying message of mass media is that economic problems are the fault of the individual citizen
Public Affairs
Public Affairs groups work to polish the image of corporations as opposed to attacking journalists and protest groups
Work to have a strong hand in organizations in urban and low-income areas through grants and donations
Many of these programs could not survive without the financial aid of these corporations and public affairs workers make sure to advertise this
Work to cast doubt on scientific findings, especially from corporations that work with materials that are dangerous to humans
Shaping Opinions on Foreign Policy
The Foreign Policy Association (FPA) was founded in 1918 and works to influence the opinions of upper-middle-class Americans on foreign affairs
The general public generally has more liberal and less militaristic views than the corporate elite
Presidential policy is the strongest factor in influencing public opinion on foreign affairs
Public support for the bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong in Vietnam rose dramatically when President Johnson enacted the bombing policy; likewise, support fell when the Johnson administration brought a partial halt to the bombing
When social stability is threatened, there is a limit to how much public opinion can be influenced (examples include the high American death tolls in Vietnam)
Shaping Opinions of Economic Policy
Economic illiteracy: a victim-blaming term from the power elite
Claim that liberal opinions are ill-informed due to incomplete knowledge of the intricacies of the economy
Attempts to influence economic opinion are not very successful due to the general public’s personal experiences, along with those of their community
The Committee for Economic Development (CEE) attempts to influence public opinion on economic issues through various media outlets
Condemned the public for the 2007-2008 economic collapse due to a poor understanding of saving and investing
Additional victim blaming
It is possible to ignore public opinion on domestic economic issues because the political system makes it difficult for the public to actually influence policy
Social Issues
Social issues have received great attention from the mass media since the 1960s
Not very important to the corporate community due to having little influence on the power elite, however they are very important to politicians’ election campaigns
Mass Media
Control of mass media outlets is highly concentrated: the power elite own all of the large media corporations
While the media plays a large role in spreading the corporate message and legitimizing the status quo, studies have shown that the general public does not engage with the news completely passively
Mass media’s influence is limited
In 1998 many mass media outlets collectively called for Bill Clinton’s impeachment, however a strong majority of Americans opposed impeachment
The media also provides assistance to the corporate community’s oppositions: lawyers, activists, experts, and protesters, who can use the information from the media to “pick their battles” and win conflicts with the power elite
Enforcing the Public Opinion
The power elite utilizes their financial power to punish whistleblowers and activists through shaming and economic duress
Many activists who step forward against corporations are fired
Chapter 6. Parties and Elections (Logan, Nate, Quinn)
Containment Strategies
Proportional Representation was originally meant to allow for conservative and pro-business governments to easily come into power.
Voter Supression
Gerrymandering: The manipulation of House districts in order to contain a large amount of voters who would probably vote for that party.
Southern states used violence, literacy tests, and poll taxes in order to discourage African American voters. This process also disenfranchised many poor white voters as well.
Growth Coalitions
These were groups of policy makers who set out to try and change the electoral system to make it more 'fair', yet in reality it ended up simply harming the system itself
1. Off Year Elections: Local elections cannot be held in the same year as national elections, as city issues were seen as different. This in actuality ended up distorting the policy connections between national and social levels.
2. Nonpartisan elections: Parties should not play a role in city elections as small issues should not be overshadowed by partisan politics. This caused candidates to have to up their brand recognition in order to get noticed.
3. Citywide Elections: Argued that districts did not have the same usefullness in cities because mayors must take on a city's problems as a whole not just individual neighborhoods. This led to neighborhood leaders having a hard time holding onto seats on the city council because they did not have the money or citywide name recognition to win city wide elections.
Spending Coalition
Group of both Southern and Northern democrats all committed to enacting change via compromise for each other's wanted issues.
Conservative Coalition
Formed to block and frustrate every initiative put forward from the Democrats.
Campaign Contributions
The corporate rich can very easily let candidates know what is acceptable to them via donations. A campaign requires huge amounts of money to run sucessfully, and donations help with this. Yet it is very easy for the agenda of people who give money to overcome the actual agenda of the candidate. Citizens United is the manifestation of this, and its totally legal.
Whilst money is a huge factor for elections ,it is not a definitive one
Clarification Questions:
1) How does the American system inherently perpetuate the two-party system?
2) How does campaign finance ultimately affect the people's votes?
Discussion Question: If the upper class has such tight control over the political parties, will it ever be possible for the liberal-labor alliance to take control of one of them, especially with the current prevalence of money in politics?
Chapter 5: The Role of Public Opinion (Emma, Blake, Sarah)
1. Overview of Opinion-Shaping Network
Interconnectivity of the opinion shaping network to policy planning networks (see diagram on pg. 111/121)
Establishing a rapport with institutions that serve the general population i.e. schools, churches, etc.
Interaction between opinion-shaping networks and American belief systems
Laissez-faire liberalism
Defining the meaning of Americanism – liberal-labor alliances versus corporate conservative interests
Outcome of opinion shaping network – influences on the general public and a continued emphasis on personal effort and individualism
2. Public Relations/Public Affairs
Difference between public relations and public affairs
Public relations is targeted and specific and seeks to control or defend corporate behavior/action
Public affairs polishes the image of corporations, and aims to shape the opinion of the general public – more connected to the company
The utilization of non profits and charities in public affairs – provides yet another example of the interconnectivity of corporations with other local and national organizations
3. Advertising Council
Creation of the War Advertising Council during World War II – aimed to support the war effort through mass media
Corporation’s role in funding the Ad council in return for positive publicity
Utilizing traditional American ideals in order to construct their specific campaigns
4. Opinion on Foreign Policy
Disconnect between general public and planning network
President and top officials have the strongest influence on public opinion regarding foreign policy issues
Problem for pluralist theory that public opinion and foreign policy are not cohesive
5. Opinion on Economic Policy
Defining economic literacy and the implications of using the term
Corporate influence on educational development and basic understanding of economics
Total plan – nothing left to individual interpretation
Inability to generate a complete consensus – limits are defined by individual work experience and observation
Lack of influence on policy by the general public – lacks an organizational base and existence of political parties
6. Social Issues
Power elite lack direct concern for political issues - they don’t think it’s nearly as important as the economic policies that directly affect corporations
Use social issues to wedge general public towards political candidates that care about issues specific to their situation
7. Mass Media
Ownership of mass media is highly concentrated
Reinforces the social system set up by corporate interests
Relationship between corporate community and mass media
Power of mass media in public opinion
Filters their news consumption but does little to affect or change public opinion
The changing priorities of the media and its shift away from investigative journalism
Media as a tool for amplifying power of those who already possess it
Formula for success
8. Public Opinion
Impact of public surveys and manipulation of results
Tactics to maintain control of public opinion on behalf of the power elite
Inability to organize the general public and importance of maintaining a stable role in society – a tipping point arises out of social/economic upheaval or other disruptions
Clarification Question: What is the difference between public relations and public affairs?
Discussion Questions: How much power does mass media have in controlling public opinion? How much do the corporate and power elite have over seemingly autonomous institutions such as non profits?
CHAPTER 6 TEXT MAP– (Emma Graham, Ione Fullerton, Valentina Lopez-Cortes)
When and how do elections matter?
In power-sharing pact contexts, elections allow citizens to determine which group governs.
Voting allows people to demonstrate disapproval of certain policies.
Citizens can impact social and economic issues by forming political parties
In U.S. development of primaries forces electorates to “intermingle” with members of public for purpose of reaching general election.
Elections allow input from citizens who are not wealthy, and provide space for criticism of social system.
When only two major parties?
Origin of U.S.’s two-party system despite nation’s social diversity
single-member district plurality system
election of one president, “winner-take-all”
Third parties usually receive small percentage of votes, but can have dramatic effects on election results
Parliament system, contrasts
Elements of two-party system: rivals blur differences, attack personal qualities, possibly discourages voting in minorities (who then go unrecognized)
Thus, there may be a minor relationship between politics and policy, and those elected may not reflect citizens’ preferences
Republicans and Democrats
History of parties
D: agrarian wealth, merchants, bankers, religious dissenters R: bankers, merchants, industrialists. Democrats were in social “out group”
Wealthy white southerners, previous slave-owners move into Democratic party
By mid 20th C, class conflict issues apparent in parties (Southern D and Northern R block liberal D from passing union rights, civil rights, regulation legislation)
Democratic Party becomes pro spending, with provisions that benefit South, leave segregation in tact
Congress throughout 20th C. voted “together” on class conflict issues, with two major exceptions
Liberal-labor coalition has few options
21st C. demonstrates both parties are controlled by power elite, with detrimental results
Electoral system functions as candidate-selection process, where filling offices matters more than policy
Party primaries as government structures
Primaries regulated by states governments can determine parties’ candidates
Point 1, along with “long-standing government control of party registration,” makes the parties into “office-filling agencies of the government.” (156) Parties are merely different paths for power.
Parties are not independent organizations, anyone can register regardless of beliefs and run in the primaries. This creates a separation between parties and policy.
Democratic party becomes more liberalized throughout 20th C.
The Critical Importance of Campaign Finance
Increased focus on symbolic social issues and images of presidential candidates
thus, candidate-selection process has become controlled by power elite through campaign contributions. Winning often requires a very large minimum in campaign spending.
People try to create regulations and limits on campaign spending. This has resulted in the development of PACs (Political Action Committees) which work to bundle money from several individuals to fund their desired candidate
Analysis of PACs
The Obama financial network
A good case study for watching the building of networks. Obama’s network began after attending Harvard, providing him with the wealth of a white population. He also made himself known in middle-class African American populations to expand his network, funded by powerful bank.
His voter districts consisted of powerful and wealthy individuals.
Obama expanded his network purposefully to the white liberal populations in The United States to ensure funding for his campaign.
In addition to building network close to home, The Obama campaign reached out to wealthy donors on a national level and abandoned much of his private funding.
The campaign set up committees which allowed for greater national funding.
–Most of his campaign funding came from large donors.
In the 2012 campaign backed by the history of campaign funding, the Obama Campaign was able to influence funding from the Democratic party.
Other Corporate Support for Candidates
The corporate rich provide presidential campaigns with more than the financial donations to elections.
purchasing of land above market value
Legal connections in law firms
Give speeches at events, and donate to foundations, and scholarship funds which help the candidates especially in home towns. ––These are networks of individuals that have the money and networks themselves.
The Liberal Labor Alliance in Electoral Politics
Network that aims to sway the opinion of voters in swing states for the Democratic party.
This is separate enough from the campaign that it is able to use connections otherwise not available especially through the use of PACs.
The Results of the Candidate Selection Process 1.Who are politicians? They are, (and are successful in building networks because..) they are the top of the income ladder as well as occupational status. 2.Politicians have similar backgrounds to the power elite. 3. Many politicians are also lawyers. 4.What is learned from the Danish? The influence of lawyer involvement in political parties has created a marginalization of class. 5.Candidates must balance being pragmatic, keeping quiet, but also expressing an emotional response to social issues. The positions a politician takes in the public eye will influence voting. ––How the public opinion can influence politicians. 6. Politicians are pro-business and moderate but it is the Democratic representatives use the idea of a “cause” to harness votes of more liberal sanctions.
CLARIFICATION QUESTIONS (1)– p.159– “They are also masters of timing, small gestures, and symbolism, which are essential skills in defusing the tension that is inherent in politics because it is at bottom a contest for power between rival groups or classes”–Is the president's job to be more of a rhetorical figure?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (2)-
Is the influential nature of PACs becoming more visible to the public? What might the effect of visibility have on voters?
How does rhetoric function as a humbling device for candidates? How is this “humbling effect” complicated when many Americans believe “all politics is corrupt” and remain skeptical of all politicians? What substantive effect does that public sense have, if any?
Day 2 Discussion Mapping (Members: )
Map
Day 2 Clarification Questions (Members: )
Questions
Chapter 5: How do interlocks strengthen the power of the opinion-shaping network? Day 2 Discussion Questions (Members: )
Questions
Chapter 5: Does the limited capability of mass media allow a more democratized opinion-shaping network? Why or why not?
Who Rules America? The Policy Planning Network:
Public opinion does not generally agree with corporate community on every policy initiative.
How the upper class and corporate communities shape policy:
finance the organizations that are at the core of these efforts.
provide a variety of free services for some of the organizations in the network (e.g. legal and accounting help, advertisements, consulting.
serve as directors and trustees of these organizations.
Upper-class and corporate interests are represented by the “power elite,” a heavily involved subset of the corporate community.
Policy discussion groups:
Council on Foreign Relations
Directors of council were more likely to be members of the upper class.
Funded by large corporations..
Committee for Economic Development
Comprised mainly of corporate leaders.
Works through study groups that refer to academic advisors.
The Conference Board
Primary interest in doing research for the corporate community itself.
Policy groups have two important functions within the power elite:
Provide training for new leadership
Provide informal recruiting to decide which academics are best for governmental service.
Functions of policy groups to society:
paint their members as selfless individuals in pursuit of national interests.
influence the climate of opinion in Washington and the U.S
Think Tanks:
They provide the expertise (86)
Attract academics by offering lucrative grants, etc.
There are only a few major ones
Brookings Institution, American Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation
Universities:
“Universities provide resources and recruits for the corporate community and its critics” (100)
Thus only those experts from universities who work for think tanks or consult for policy-discussion groups in the policy-planning networks are relevant to the corporate side of the power equation.
Only those who come to have major roles within the policy-planning network are part of the leadership group, the power elite. (100)
“They are wrong more often than they are right. They are as likely to screen out information that does not fit with their biases and sense of self-importance as everyone else.”(87)
Clarification Questions:
How exactly do these discussion groups and think tanks actually influence policy?
Discussion Questions:
Where does Domhoff lie in the material versus ideological argument? Does he differ from Marx?
Just as many universities and academic settings play a part in this pervasive system, Whitman plays a part in this structure as well. For example, Microsoft recently donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to create a computer science program at Whitman. Is this an example of how the corporate elite infiltrates the academic setting?
Chapter 7: How the Power Elite Dominate Government (Members: Nathan Gruenberg, Sam Jacobson, Andy Monserud)
Text Mapping:
Role Of Government
Autonomous due to unique function: territorial regulation.
Provide subsidy payments to groups in trouble (e.g. farmers, low income workers).
Globalization unites all governments.
The Special-Interest Process
“Consists of the many and varied means by which specific corporations and business sectors gain favors, tax breaks, regulatory rulings and other governmental assistance they need to realize their narrow and short-run interests” (176)
“Special-interest process often is used to create loopholes in legislation that is accepted by the corporate community in principle” (177)
The Policy-Making Process
People from the policy-planning network are :
often members of the many unpaid committees that advise specific departments of the executive branch on general policies (179).
Corporate executives and experts from the policy-planning network have been prominent on the presidential and congressional commissions to make recommendations on a wide range of issues.
Corporate leaders have personal contact with both appointed and elected officials as members of the two policy organizations with the most access to government
Serve as informal advisers to the president in times of foreign policy crisis.
Appointed to government positions that put them in a position to endorse the policy suggestions put forth by their colleagues and former employees in the policy-planning network.
Proposals developed in the policy planning network led to several new government agencies in the twentieth century.
Sometimes general policy battles pit one or two industries against the rest of the corporate community, with the aggrieved industries eventually losing out.
Constant interaction with constituents and the media gives them the experience and sensitivity to use the rhetoric and metaphors needed to make the new legislation palatable to as many people as possible.
Appointees to Government
The administrations of presidents (take GW and Clinton) are almost indistinguishable in their credentials (184).
You see a lot of corporate and planning policy network connections
Obama’s appointees are different from past appointees
More of a political elite than a corporate based elite (194).
More likely to have spent more time in government
Less likely to have served on corporate boards
Supreme Court Appointments
Appointees are upper and upper-middle class.
Many served as corporate attorneys but then abandoned those posts for teaching at law schools or judicial appointments
Many attended Elite Law schools
Many were active in a political party
Tends to stand by both corporate power and individual rights.
Labor Relations and Union Organizing
Despite unionization’s obvious threat to many members of the corporate elite, it was able to garner some support in the 30’s from southern elites because of its focus on urban labor rather than agricultural or domestic (read: black) labor.
popularity of unions grew following National Recovery Administration b/c of section 7a, which required employers to allow employees to join unions. Though this appeared unenforceable at the time, and the rest of the plan failed unequivocally, many laborers saw this as a mandate to join a union.
Unity of this kind never really occurred again b/c of dissolution of southern democratic bloc, and the remainder of labor history has involved corporate leaders chipping away at 1930s gains with weakening opposition.
Wal-Mart CEO: “We like driving the car, and we’re not going to give the steering wheel to anybody but us.”
Why do Business Leaders Feel Powerless
Corporate leaders often express a feeling of victimization at the hands of gov’t
‘’ ‘’ claim that democratic gov’t threatens capitalism b/c of teeming masses of ignorant people
“Since power is in theory in the hands of all the people, there is always the possibility that someday ‘the people,’ in the sense of the majority, will make the government into the pluralist democracy it is supposed to be.” (206)
these concerns are constant, even when gov’t is most lenient, but corporate elite are most threatened by unionism. (Civil rights get an honorable mention for much the same reason).
Corporate elite especially opposes:
essentially the entire New Deal, except in extreme circumstances (such as those that spawned the New Deal) or with extremely limited scope (as with social security and unemployment).
anti-immigration policies (because of cheap labor)
either lowering or raising of interest rates by the Fed-- Domhoff is extremely unclear and often self-contradictory here. I suspect a typo.
The Limits of Corporate Domination
In summary:
Corporate elite’s “right to rule” is called into question when they fuck up too badly (e.g. 2008 financial crisis).
major challenges are rare, and most conflicts are between opposing corporate interest groups
most conflicts emerge between moderate conservative and ultra conservatives w/in the elite, with liberals on the periphery
National Labor Relations Act of 1935 proves that victories can be won over the corporate elite, but only in times of division w/in the community and extreme militancy against dominance.
Clarification Questions: Does Nathan have a Thor beard going on? Is Obama in a frat?
Why do corporations spend more time and money lobbying elected officials than they do on supporting campaigns?
Discussion Questions: What are the pros and cons for Obama having a majority of political elite vs. corporate based elite? Does this locational change of power make a difference?
Do the corporate elite hold a marxist perspective (an eventual overthrow of the bourgeoisie by the proletariat)?
Who Rules America Mapping
Chapter 1
- 1. What is power?
- a. Degree to which a community or nation has the capacity to perform effectively in pursuing its common goals. (2)
- b. The ability of a group or social class within a community or nation to be successful in conflicts with its rivals on issues of concern to it. (3)
- 2. Matrices of power
- a. Economic
- b. Political
- c. Military
- d. Ideological
- 3. Indicators of power
- a. Who Benefits?
i. High Income and great wealth- 1. Wealth and Income do not have a 1 to 1 relationship to power, just relative power
- b. Who Governs?
i. Over and under representation in government signifies relative power- c. Who Wins?
i. Impossible to flat-out identifyii. Four processes used to “win” generally
Chapter 2
- 6. The Corporate Community
- a. Drawn close because they are all opposed for similar reasons
- b. Organization occurs through two central mechanisms
i. Trade associationsii. Business associations
- 7. Origins of the Corporate Community
- a. Originated through jointly owned textile companies in New England (18)
- b. Simultaneously, wealthy investors in major cities developed commonly owned companies (19)
- 8. Reasons for Organization
- a. Competition regulation
- b. Legal protection
- 9. Interlocks
- a. Interlocks reflect changing power dynamics
- b. Major changes in interlocks from 1904-1970
i. Railroadsii. Manufacturing Firms
iii. Corporate independence from banks
- 10. Board of Directors
- a. Exact role varies
- b. Major duty is to hire and fire executives
- c. Represent the interface between the corporations and the upper class in the United States
- 11. Private Owned Corporations and Financial Companies
- a. Not necessarily connected to the rest of the corporate community
- 12. Defense Companies
- a. Defense contractors are often the largest corporations
- b. Defense contractors are completely integrated into the corporate community
- c. Inextricably linked—defense budget rises and falls with GDP
- 13. Corporate Lawyers
- a. Operate as facilitators for the corporate community
- 14. Agrifood
- a. Decline in competition over the years shifted the farms from popular movement to interest group status
- 15. Small Businesses
- a. Lack the volume to be proper counterweights to the corporate community
i. Employ less people and are responsible for less of GDPDiscussion Question
What benefits do interlocks serve to stabilizing the upper class?
What is the significance of the corporate community's direct influence over most American's economic well-being? (P39).
Clarification Question
Why is wealth not the perfect indicator of class?
CHAPTER 3 (Blake L., Emma D, Sarah E.)
Corporate Community and the Upper Class
- Social Cohesion
- basis for the formation of the upper class
- Status Power
- the conversion of economic power
Is there an American Upper Class?- The constant survival up upper class social institutions
- Methods of establishing the existence of upper-class institutions
- flaws to methods
- False Positives
- False Negatives
- Challenges to methodology
- presentation of self
Prepping for Power: ways to gain social capital, making connections- Private School Education
- Preschool
- day school
- bording school
- private school
- private higher education (Ivies)
- Total Institutions
- seperatness and superiority
- Cultural Capital
Social Clubs: maintaining connections- maintains social cohesion through:
- exclusion
- overlapping networks
- The Bohemian Grove as a Place of Affirmation and Renewal
- the microcosm of the upper class
- reaffirm class values and creates solidarity
Feminine Half of the Upper Class: equally elite but not equal- Separate social spaces
- Schools
- Sororities
- Junior League
- Debutant
Role after developmentDropouts, Failures, and Change Agents
Continuity and Upward Mobility
Is the Upper Class an Economic Class?
Distribution of wealth and income
- Wealth
- Marketable assets
Income- Wages, dividends, bonds, insurance and bank accounts minus debts
- More sensitive power indicator
The Upper Class and Corporate ControlFamily Ownership
- Family involvement, continuity, and connections to top corporations
The Family Office- Concentrated wealth
- Wields more power
Holding Companies and Investment Partnerships- Maintaining and extending dynasties
Where do Corporate Executives Come From?- Upper classes disinterest in daily running of their corporation
- More interest in managing funds and growing personal wealth
The Assimilation of Rising Corporate Executives- View the Upper Class and an aspiration
- Begins in education extends after beginning the corporate career
- Socially and economically assimilating
Class AwarenessClarifying Question:
Why is the upper class a capitalist (economic) class not just a social class?
Discussion Questions:
How do family offices and the managerial class impact the role of the upper elites?
What is the benefit of hiding personal indicators of privilege?
Chapter 3 (Logan, Nate, Quinn)
Discussion Question:
How does the combination of social networks with economic power enable the upper class to perpetuate itself, while at the same time maintaining its power?
Clarifying Questions:
What are the examples of the intersection between the upper class and the corporate community? How does it benefit and perpetuate the upper class?
Day 1 Discussion Mapping (Members: )
Map
Day 1 Clarification Questions (Members: )
Questions
Chapter 4 (Members: Andy Monserud, Nathan Gruenberg, Sam Jacobson)
Who Rules America?
The Policy Planning Network:
“They are wrong more often than they are right. They are as likely to screen out information that does not fit with their biases and sense of self-importance as everyone else.”(87)
Clarification Questions:
How exactly do these discussion groups and think tanks actually influence policy?
Discussion Questions:
Where does Domhoff lie in the material versus ideological argument? Does he differ from Marx?
Just as many universities and academic settings play a part in this pervasive system, Whitman plays a part in this structure as well. For example, Microsoft recently donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to create a computer science program at Whitman. Is this an example of how the corporate elite infiltrates the academic setting?
Chapter 4: (Members: Valentina Lopez-Cortes, Ione Fullerton, Emma Graham)
Chapter 4- The Shaping of Policy
General Argument:
“In chapter 4 it will be shown that corporations and corporate leaders finance and direct a network of tax-free foundations, policy-discussion groups, think tanks, and other organizations that formulate policy alternatives and attempt to shape the social and political climate.” (13)
His purpose within chapter 4 is to describe how organizations are used by corporate communities to create a policy planning process where they convey their policy preferences to political parties/ government. This process/ network demonstrates how independant experts participate in power the power equation.
Outline:
Goes through all the features of which the policy planning process through which societal groups can present their agendas.
Features~
4 basic ways
Finance central organizations
provide free legal and accounting (and other services )for these organizations
serve as trustees- select operational managers and decided general direction of organizations
take part or act as participants of the groups in the Networks
Policy Planning Network- the following organizations of the policy planning network are intertwined with one another along with the corporate community in trustees, funding, and ideas in planning. This is how the corporate community shapes government policy.
- foundations
- defined as tax free institutions created to give grants to both individuals and organization for activities (Is the means that allows the wealthy/ corporations to dictate how tax payments are spent)
- four basic types of foundations
- independant- created by families, relatively small and local, serve a variety of purposes
- corporate- funded yearly by major corporations
- community- local, designed to aid charities, voluntary associations, & special projects (funding from variety of sources)
- operating- used to finance specific projects/ exhibits/ museums (not important for the policy planning process)
~Ford Example demonstrates how a foundation can become so committed to a specific issue and it can create specific organizations to facilitate projects that relate to that issue.- University Research Institutes
- groups within universities in which professors advise, teach, and train experts who later may become within think tanks
- not direct part of policy planning network made up of diverse faculty and students- intellectually with political orientation
- important to power equation, because Universities educate future leaders
- policy discussion groups
- defined as non partisan groups that combine corporate executives, lawyers, academic experts, university administrators, gov officials, and media specialists to talk about problems, trade, and policies.
- functions for the corporate community
- provide setting where corporate leaders can talk to think tanks and university research institutes about policy issues
- provides spaces where discussion can happen between liberals and conservatives
- provides training space for new leaders
- provides informal recruitment space for future policy experts.
- functions for rest of society
- creates legitimate image that members are capable of government service
- conveys concerns and goals of corporate community to experts and professors. Creates space for connections for these two parties
- creates space for media such as books, policy statements, and so forth that might influence opinion of washington & country
Examples-varying members of the policy planning network include:Define Power Elite-
is made up of people who are directors and trustees of organizations controlled by the corporate community.
Clarification Question-
How do local foundations make themselves heard within the policy network?
Discussion Question-
How might race and gender influence who is able to participate in the power elite?
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Day 2 Text Mapping (Members: Jenny, Andrew, Nick)
Map
Chapter 5
The Role of Public Opinion
Andrew, Jenny, Nick
9/20
Text Mapping
Chapter 6. Parties and Elections (Logan, Nate, Quinn)
- Containment Strategies
- Proportional Representation was originally meant to allow for conservative and pro-business governments to easily come into power.
- Voter Supression
- Gerrymandering: The manipulation of House districts in order to contain a large amount of voters who would probably vote for that party.
- Southern states used violence, literacy tests, and poll taxes in order to discourage African American voters. This process also disenfranchised many poor white voters as well.
- Growth Coalitions
- These were groups of policy makers who set out to try and change the electoral system to make it more 'fair', yet in reality it ended up simply harming the system itself
- 1. Off Year Elections: Local elections cannot be held in the same year as national elections, as city issues were seen as different. This in actuality ended up distorting the policy connections between national and social levels.
- 2. Nonpartisan elections: Parties should not play a role in city elections as small issues should not be overshadowed by partisan politics. This caused candidates to have to up their brand recognition in order to get noticed.
- 3. Citywide Elections: Argued that districts did not have the same usefullness in cities because mayors must take on a city's problems as a whole not just individual neighborhoods. This led to neighborhood leaders having a hard time holding onto seats on the city council because they did not have the money or citywide name recognition to win city wide elections.
- Spending Coalition
- Group of both Southern and Northern democrats all committed to enacting change via compromise for each other's wanted issues.
- Conservative Coalition
- Formed to block and frustrate every initiative put forward from the Democrats.
- Campaign Contributions
- The corporate rich can very easily let candidates know what is acceptable to them via donations. A campaign requires huge amounts of money to run sucessfully, and donations help with this. Yet it is very easy for the agenda of people who give money to overcome the actual agenda of the candidate. Citizens United is the manifestation of this, and its totally legal.
- Whilst money is a huge factor for elections ,it is not a definitive one
Clarification Questions:1) How does the American system inherently perpetuate the two-party system?
2) How does campaign finance ultimately affect the people's votes?
Discussion Question: If the upper class has such tight control over the political parties, will it ever be possible for the liberal-labor alliance to take control of one of them, especially with the current prevalence of money in politics?
Chapter 5: The Role of Public Opinion (Emma, Blake, Sarah)
1. Overview of Opinion-Shaping Network
2. Public Relations/Public Affairs
3. Advertising Council
4. Opinion on Foreign Policy
5. Opinion on Economic Policy
6. Social Issues
7. Mass Media
8. Public Opinion
Clarification Question: What is the difference between public relations and public affairs?
Discussion Questions: How much power does mass media have in controlling public opinion? How much do the corporate and power elite have over seemingly autonomous institutions such as non profits?
CHAPTER 6 TEXT MAP– (Emma Graham, Ione Fullerton, Valentina Lopez-Cortes)
When and how do elections matter?
- In power-sharing pact contexts, elections allow citizens to determine which group governs.
- Voting allows people to demonstrate disapproval of certain policies.
- Citizens can impact social and economic issues by forming political parties
- In U.S. development of primaries forces electorates to “intermingle” with members of public for purpose of reaching general election.
- Elections allow input from citizens who are not wealthy, and provide space for criticism of social system.
When only two major parties?Republicans and Democrats
- Congress throughout 20th C. voted “together” on class conflict issues, with two major exceptions
- Liberal-labor coalition has few options
- 21st C. demonstrates both parties are controlled by power elite, with detrimental results
- Electoral system functions as candidate-selection process, where filling offices matters more than policy
Party primaries as government structures- Primaries regulated by states governments can determine parties’ candidates
- Point 1, along with “long-standing government control of party registration,” makes the parties into “office-filling agencies of the government.” (156) Parties are merely different paths for power.
- Parties are not independent organizations, anyone can register regardless of beliefs and run in the primaries. This creates a separation between parties and policy.
- Democratic party becomes more liberalized throughout 20th C.
The Critical Importance of Campaign Finance- People try to create regulations and limits on campaign spending. This has resulted in the development of PACs (Political Action Committees) which work to bundle money from several individuals to fund their desired candidate
- Analysis of PACs
The Obama financial network- A good case study for watching the building of networks. Obama’s network began after attending Harvard, providing him with the wealth of a white population. He also made himself known in middle-class African American populations to expand his network, funded by powerful bank.
- His voter districts consisted of powerful and wealthy individuals.
- Obama expanded his network purposefully to the white liberal populations in The United States to ensure funding for his campaign.
- In addition to building network close to home, The Obama campaign reached out to wealthy donors on a national level and abandoned much of his private funding.
- The campaign set up committees which allowed for greater national funding.
–Most of his campaign funding came from large donors.Other Corporate Support for Candidates
The Liberal Labor Alliance in Electoral Politics
- Network that aims to sway the opinion of voters in swing states for the Democratic party.
- This is separate enough from the campaign that it is able to use connections otherwise not available especially through the use of PACs.
The Results of the Candidate Selection Process1.Who are politicians? They are, (and are successful in building networks because..) they
are the top of the income ladder as well as occupational status.
2.Politicians have similar backgrounds to the power elite.
3. Many politicians are also lawyers.
4.What is learned from the Danish? The influence of lawyer involvement in political
parties has created a marginalization of class.
5.Candidates must balance being pragmatic, keeping quiet, but also expressing an
emotional response to social issues. The positions a politician takes in the public eye will
influence voting. ––How the public opinion can influence politicians.
6. Politicians are pro-business and moderate but it is the Democratic representatives use
the idea of a “cause” to harness votes of more liberal sanctions.
CLARIFICATION QUESTIONS (1)–
p.159– “They are also masters of timing, small gestures, and symbolism, which are essential skills in defusing the tension that is inherent in politics because it is at bottom a contest for power between rival groups or classes”–Is the president's job to be more of a rhetorical figure?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (2)-
Day 2 Discussion Mapping (Members: )
Map
Day 2 Clarification Questions (Members: )
Questions
Chapter 5: How do interlocks strengthen the power of the opinion-shaping network?
Day 2 Discussion Questions (Members: )
Questions
Chapter 5: Does the limited capability of mass media allow a more democratized opinion-shaping network? Why or why not?
Who Rules America?
The Policy Planning Network:
“They are wrong more often than they are right. They are as likely to screen out information that does not fit with their biases and sense of self-importance as everyone else.”(87)
Clarification Questions:
How exactly do these discussion groups and think tanks actually influence policy?
Discussion Questions:
Where does Domhoff lie in the material versus ideological argument? Does he differ from Marx?
Just as many universities and academic settings play a part in this pervasive system, Whitman plays a part in this structure as well. For example, Microsoft recently donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to create a computer science program at Whitman. Is this an example of how the corporate elite infiltrates the academic setting?
Chapter 7: How the Power Elite Dominate Government (Members: Nathan Gruenberg, Sam Jacobson, Andy Monserud)
Text Mapping:
Role Of Government
The Special-Interest Process
The Policy-Making Process
Appointees to Government
Supreme Court Appointments
Labor Relations and Union Organizing
Why do Business Leaders Feel Powerless
- Corporate leaders often express a feeling of victimization at the hands of gov’t
- ‘’ ‘’ claim that democratic gov’t threatens capitalism b/c of teeming masses of ignorant people
- “Since power is in theory in the hands of all the people, there is always the possibility that someday ‘the people,’ in the sense of the majority, will make the government into the pluralist democracy it is supposed to be.” (206)
- these concerns are constant, even when gov’t is most lenient, but corporate elite are most threatened by unionism. (Civil rights get an honorable mention for much the same reason).
- Corporate elite especially opposes:
- essentially the entire New Deal, except in extreme circumstances (such as those that spawned the New Deal) or with extremely limited scope (as with social security and unemployment).
- anti-immigration policies (because of cheap labor)
- either lowering or raising of interest rates by the Fed-- Domhoff is extremely unclear and often self-contradictory here. I suspect a typo.
The Limits of Corporate DominationClarification Questions:
Does Nathan have a Thor beard going on?
Is Obama in a frat?
Why do corporations spend more time and money lobbying elected officials than they do on supporting campaigns?
Discussion Questions:
What are the pros and cons for Obama having a majority of political elite vs. corporate based elite? Does this locational change of power make a difference?
Do the corporate elite hold a marxist perspective (an eventual overthrow of the bourgeoisie by the proletariat)?