• Research Paper on:
    Power in America: A Thematic Analysis of Thomas R. Dye’s “Who’s Running America? The Bush Restoration”

    Number of Pages: 6

     

    Summary of the research paper:

    A 6 page paper which examines Dye’s assertion that power is concentrated among the few and not the many by concentrating on three central themes – that there is a power elite comprised of a select number of corporations and private foundations, that campaign finance reform has done little to open up the power structure to ‘the people,’ and how this intricate network controls government policy by influencing the media and school institutions. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

    Name of Research Paper File: TG15_TGpowelite.rtf

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    Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
    for the people. Citizens take considerable pride in believing that they possess legislative power and influence policymaking through voting and civic participation. But Professor Thomas R. Dye, author  of Whos Running America? The Bush Restoration, argues that the power is concentrated in the hands of the few, not the many. According to Dye, America - past and  present - has been controlled behind the scenes by a power elite comprised of wealthy individuals that manipulate the government through money to formulate policy that has more to do  with satisfying an economically advantageous agenda than it does with serving the common good. Dye (2002) posits his thesis by contending, "Great personal wealth in America today is inherited  and... opportunities to acquire great personal fortunes dried up after the Industrial Revolution."1 It is a group united by social class and position, and lean heavily toward political conservatism.  When this ruling class champions free society, it is actually referring to the capitalist democracy that allows them to generate the revenues that further consolidate its sphere of power  and influence.2 After defining what he means by power elite, Professor Dye formulates his position by exploring three major themes: revealing an elite that is comprised of a select  number of corporations and private foundations; how campaign finance reform has done little to open up the power structure to the people; and illustrates how an intricate (and overlapping) network  controls government policy by the influencing media and school institutions. Professor Dye maintains that instead of 250 million Americans directing its government through free public elections, it is instead a  little more than 7,300 non-elected people in the private sector that are calling all of the political shots. Furthermore, Dye alleges that approximately 100 corporations and 50 banks control 

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