eople that holds all the wealth and power of the nation. This elite group is able to use its power to get its own policies implemented and its own legislations passed. These policies and legislations get passed regardless of what the majority opinion is. Obviously, this is not the model for a true democracy.
One of the earliest discussions of the elite theory can be found in the book Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, which was written by Joseph Schumpeter in 1942. According to Schumpeter, "the classical ideal of government by the people was not only impossible but also undesirable on account of the proven ignorance, irrationality and apathy of the people" (Arblaster, 1987, p. 53). Schumpeter believed that people are incapable of ruling themselves and that they need elite leaders to maintain law and order for them. In 1956, the elite theory underwent new developments with the publication of The Power Elite by C. Wright Mills. In that book, Mills claimed that a "power elite" was in control of both politics and society in the United States. He argued that this elite consisted of "a self-perpetuating establishment of corporate, military, legal, and political leaders" (Lichter, Rothman & Lichter, 1986, p. ix). One of the latest proponents of the elite theory is G. William Domhoff, a professor of psychology and sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Domhoff expressed his views in his 1967 book Who Rules America?, which was revised and reprinted in 1983 under the title Who Rules America Now?. In the 1983 edition, Domhoff claimed: "There continues to be a small upper class that owns 20 to 25 percent of all privately held wealth and 45 to 50 percent of all privately held corporate stock, sits in seats of formal power from the corporate community to the federal government, and wins much more often that it loses on issues" (p. 223).
In contrast to the elite theory is the perspective known as pluralism. Accordi...