The Power Elite and the State: How Policy is Made in America (Social Institutions and Social Change)

"This volume presents a network of social power, indicating that theories inspired by C. Wright Mills are far more accurate views about power in America than those of Mills's opponents. Dr. Domhoff shows how and why coalitions within the power elite have involved themselves in such policy issues as the Social Security Act (1935) and the Employment Act (1946), and how the National Labor Relations Act (1935) could pass against the opposition of every major corporation. The book descri bes how experts worked closely with the power elite in shaping the plansfor a post-World War II world economic order, in good part realized during the past 30 years. Arguments are advanced that the fat cats who support the Democrats cannot be understood in terms of narrow self-interest, and that moderate conservatives dominated policy-making under Reagan."--Provided by publisher Preface Introduction Social Networks, Power, and the State Introduction Liberalism, Marxism, and State Theory States and Social Classes Does it Matter who Governs? Indicators of Power Uncertainty in Organizations The Cohesion of Class Segments States and Social Democrats The Need for State Unity Conclusion Business Leaders, Experts, and the Social Security Act Introduction Corporate Liberalism and Mills The Distortion of Corporate-Liberal Theory The Social Security Act of 1935 The Wagner Act and Class Conflict, 1897-1948 The Origins and Tribulations of Collective Bargaining Labor Policy in the Early New Deal Who Wrote the Wagner Act? Why Did It Pass? Implications and Conclusions Defining the National Interest, 1940-1942: A Critique of Krasner's Theory of American State Autonomy Introduction Krasner's Theory and Findings The Council on Foreign Relations and the National Interest Discussion The Ruling Class Does Rule: The State Autonomy Theory of Fred Block, and the Origins of the International Monetary FUnd Introduction Block's Theory The Who, Why, and How of the IMF Discussion and Conclusion State Autonomy and the Employment Act of 1946: An Empirical Attack on a Theoretical Fantasy Introduction Conflict over the Employment Bill Conclusion Class Segments and Trade Policy, 1917-1962: A Challenge to Pluralists and Structural Marxists The Pluralists The Structural Marxist Trade Policy in the Interwar Years Postwar Trade Policies The Trade Expansion Act Conclusion Which Fat Cats Support Democrats? Right Turn and the Decline of the Democrats Politics and Policies Fat Cats and Democrats The South and the Growth Machines Jews and Democrats The Decline of Disruption and the Return to Conservatism Disruption and Power Was Business Disorganized? The Rise of Capital-Labor Conflict ENVOI BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX

This volume presents a network of social power, indicating that theories inspired by C.Wright Mills are far more accurate views about power in America than those of Mills's opponents.

Dr. Domhoff shows how and why coalitions within the power elite have involved themselves in such policy issues as the Social Security Act (1935) and the Employment Act (1946), and how the National Labor Relations Act (1935) could pass against the opposition of every major corporation. The book descri bes how experts worked closely with the power elite in shaping the plansfor a post-World War II world economic order, in good part realized during the past 30 years. Arguments are advanced that the fat cats who support the Democrats cannot be understood in terms of narrow self-interest, and that moderate conservatives dominated policy-making under Reagan.

This volume presents a network of social power, indicating that theories inspired by C.Wright Mills are far more accurate views about power in America than those of Mills's opponents.Dr. Domhoff shows how and why coalitions within the power elite have involved themselves in such policy issues as the Social Security Act (1935) and the Employment Act (1946), and how the National Labor Relations Act (1935) could pass against the opposition of every major corporation. The book describes how experts worked closely with the power elite in shaping the plans for a post-World War II world economic order, in good part realized during the past 30 years. Arguments are advanced that the fat cats who support the Democrats cannot be understood in terms of narrow self-interest, and that moderate conservatives dominated policy-making under Reagan G. William Domhoff. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 287-308).