The Power Elite Analysis

The power elite, in C. Wright Mills’s view, are those few powerful and united men who make decisions (or don’t make decisions) that affect the lives of the common masses. Mills also believes that the power elite are not constrained within the traditional boundaries of the ordinary men and women, such as community and occupation. These men run the country- they lead the military, corporations, and the government. In short, his thesis is that the power elite are the few united and powerful men whose decisions shape the lives of the powerless and unorganized masses of everyday American people.

Mills arranges society into three levels. At the top are the power elite, such as CEOs of huge corporations, the President, and the directors of the United