English

The Universities And The Ruling Class: How Wealth Puts Knowledge In Its Pocket

The following articles are based upon certain very clear assumptions about the nature and exercise of power in American society. Most political and social scientists are "pluralists" who believe that power in America is widely dispersed and that any particular interest group is prevented from monopolizing power by the "countervailing" force of other groups. David Horowitz offers a direct and effective challenge to "pluralism" with his assertion that power in America is exercised primarily by a small corporate "ruling class." In order to best understand his assumptions and his methodology ("power structure" analysis), one should consult G. William Domhoff , Who Rules America? (Prentice Hall pub., $2.45). In his book, Domhoff asks two important questions: Is there an American upper class, and, if so, is the upper class also a governing class? In both cases, his answer is yes. He finds that there is an upper class consisting of no more than one half of one percent of the American population, and that there is "a national corporate economy ... run by the same group of several thousand men." These corporate magnates play a decisive role in shaping American domestic and international pol

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