Society

The Power Elite: 8 key ideas

by C. Wright Mills

The core ideas of The Power Elite, each in under a minute, written in our own words. Want the full depth? Get the book.

1. IDEA 1 OF 8

   A small elite runs America

   Mills, a sociologist, argues that in the United States after the Second World War, real power was concentrated in a small group he calls the power elite.

   Its members led the largest corporations, the military and the federal government.

2. IDEA 2 OF 8

   Big companies hold great power

   Mills describes the corporate rich, the leaders of huge companies whose decisions affect millions.

   Wealth, in his view, had become concentrated in these institutions. In his view, their choices shape jobs, prices and national life far beyond their own firms.

3. IDEA 3 OF 8

   The military gained influence

   Mills argues that the Cold War gave military leaders unprecedented influence over national policy.

   Military thinking spread into government and business. In his view, this tied national decisions closely to questions of defence and security.

4. IDEA 4 OF 8

   Politicians are part of the elite

   Mills describes a political directorate of top officials who often moved between government, business and the military.

   In his view, the same small circle of people can move between senior roles in all three worlds.

5. IDEA 5 OF 8

   The three worlds interlock

   Mills argues that leaders of these institutions share backgrounds, schools and social circles.

   Their interests and decisions overlap. In his account, shared outlooks make it easy for them to agree without open argument.

6. IDEA 6 OF 8

   Citizens became a mass

   Mills argues that ordinary Americans had become a passive mass society, receiving opinions through media rather than forming them in debate.

   In his view, people were consumers of opinions made elsewhere, not active participants in public discussion.

7. IDEA 7 OF 8

   Celebrity distracts the public

   Mills describes how celebrities attract public attention, while real power operates out of sight.

   In his view, stories about famous people fill the news while decisions about war, money and law are made quietly elsewhere.

8. IDEA 8 OF 8

   Democracy was weakened

   Mills warns that concentrated power, unchecked by public debate, threatened democracy.

   His view was controversial but influential. In his account, when a few make the big choices without open debate, ordinary citizens lose their real say.