Power and Politics Sociology is known as the study of how life, change, and causes and consequences of human behavior in a social aspect. C. Wright Mills, Karl Marx, and Peter Berger, were three sociologists that developed their individual theories to clarify and examine society at different levels and from three very different perspectives. While these three authors differ in their innumerable methods, each have an essential point that they are trying to make which can be made applicable in any person’s daily life. This essay will take an in-depth look into their insightful background, perspectives, analyze their likeness and differences, analyze the overarching theme power and control in America, as these two entities relates to the
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The work that made him most popular was that of sociological imagination and it through this study that many Americans associate with even today. When looking at the theory of Mills, he believed that people within society where controlled by a group that held power and prestige. The people who were in a position of power, where able to control the world in general, because they were able to monetarily able to sustain the country and help to facilitate the decisions that would benefit them (the elites) to continue to gain money, power, and respect. Bluden states, “In order to be able to better understand and compare Mills ' theory of mass society with the notion of the community of publics, one must first be able to understand mass society and the components that it holds” (Bluden, 1956). Mills concept as a whole, proves that a vast amount of society suggest that an ordinary person is disassociated from the government and they (ordinary people) feel as if the government does not make any decision that will help to affect their lives on a daily basis. Mills had an opinion all on his own, but his counter partner Karl Marx took a different approach as it relates to the people, politics, and …show more content…
C. Wright Mills feels that the power of America is in the hands of a group of elite people, and it is through this group that single decisions are made. Cuzzort and King state, “ His interest in the power elite further increased his concern that America seemed to be moving in the direction of a capitulation to the simplicity and formality of military regulation and military thought” (Cuzzort & King, 2002, p.371). For example, if there was a life-and-death situation that occurred within the realms of society; the elite would take from the top, leaving moderately insignificant substances for the middle level and virtually nothing for the common person. Karl Marx was a humanist and he believed that it was humans that made their history. According to Jessop, “Marxist approaches to power focus on its relation to class domination in capitalist societies. Power is linked to class relations in economics, politics, and ideology. In capitalist social formations, the state is considered to be particularly important in securing the conditions for economic class domination” (Jessop, 2014). The upper class of society held the key that unlocked the power and control throughout American history, because was the system of the have and have nots. Those individuals that had
The work that made him most popular was that of sociological imagination and it through this study that many Americans associate with even today. When looking at the theory of Mills, he believed that people within society where controlled by a group that held power and prestige. The people who were in a position of power, where able to control the world in general, because they were able to monetarily able to sustain the country and help to facilitate the decisions that would benefit them (the elites) to continue to gain money, power, and respect. Bluden states, “In order to be able to better understand and compare Mills ' theory of mass society with the notion of the community of publics, one must first be able to understand mass society and the components that it holds” (Bluden, 1956). Mills concept as a whole, proves that a vast amount of society suggest that an ordinary person is disassociated from the government and they (ordinary people) feel as if the government does not make any decision that will help to affect their lives on a daily basis. Mills had an opinion all on his own, but his counter partner Karl Marx took a different approach as it relates to the people, politics, and …show more content…
C. Wright Mills feels that the power of America is in the hands of a group of elite people, and it is through this group that single decisions are made. Cuzzort and King state, “ His interest in the power elite further increased his concern that America seemed to be moving in the direction of a capitulation to the simplicity and formality of military regulation and military thought” (Cuzzort & King, 2002, p.371). For example, if there was a life-and-death situation that occurred within the realms of society; the elite would take from the top, leaving moderately insignificant substances for the middle level and virtually nothing for the common person. Karl Marx was a humanist and he believed that it was humans that made their history. According to Jessop, “Marxist approaches to power focus on its relation to class domination in capitalist societies. Power is linked to class relations in economics, politics, and ideology. In capitalist social formations, the state is considered to be particularly important in securing the conditions for economic class domination” (Jessop, 2014). The upper class of society held the key that unlocked the power and control throughout American history, because was the system of the have and have nots. Those individuals that had