1. The United States has an elitist system in which those who already have power are the ones who have access to the power of government. Theoretically such power is available to millions of Americans. By voting for their representatives, lobbying lawmakers, encouraging others to vote, promoting causes with the public, and running for office themselves, most Americans can be said to have access. But in reality those with power, based either directly or indirectly on economic power, not only have automatic access, they also control mass communications media and have an influence on political parties that is based on the number of dollars they have to offer rather than the number of votes they possess. In all aspects of the political process--political parties, mass communications, influencing public opinion, influencing voter behavior, and functioning as interest groups--American elites have consistently transformed every part of the process to suit their own needs. By considering each of these aspects of the system it is possible to show how the changes they made created the country's elitist system.
Political parties, for example, were originally a way of avoiding monopolies on governmental power. In theory, they allowed the expression of different opinions and meant that people with different views had a chance of getting representation that suited them. The Founders had not liked the idea of political parties because they thought they undermined public consensus by making up and exploiting conflict, and discouraged political independence. They also believed that parties "were instruments by which a small and narrow interest could impose its will on society" (Welch et al. 143). Yet the system they created was almost certain to produce parties. Even in the early days, elections at the state and national level had to reach such large, widespread groups of voters and, in the legislature, there were so many people and inter...