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+--- Thread: Who Rules America? (/thread-4263.html)
Who Rules America? - Magda Hassan - 08-08-2010
http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/
![[Image: heading_home.gif]](http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/images/heading_home.gif)
by G. William Domhoff
My book, Who Rules America?, presents detailed original information on how power and politics operate in the United States. The first edition came out in 1967 and is ranked 12th on the list of 50 best sellers in sociology between 1950 and 1995. A second edition, Who Rules America Now?, arrived in 1983 and landed at #43 on the same list. Third and fourth editions followed in 1998 and 2002, and the fifth edition, upon which most of this web site is based, came out in 2006.
The sixth edition of WRA was released in 2009, and is available at Amazon.com (and other bookstores). This new edition has information on the rise of Barack Obama, his campaign finance supporters, and the nature of his administration. The last chapter focuses on the potential for serious challenges to class and corporate dominance. It does not have answers, but it raises the key questions and states the possibilities, noting that the strategies and tactics adopted by activists are an essential part of the power equation.
You'll find the following in this site: supplementary information and updates for readers of WRA; an overview of the American power structure at the national level and an in-depth look at power at the local level; a look at the wealth and income distribution in the U.S. and how this relates to power structures; an overview of the Four Networks theory of power, which provides the best general theory of power and social change within which to situate the class-domination theory I've developed specifically for the United States; commentaries on alternative theories of power; a special section on the Bohemian Club & Bohemian Grove, including pictures of the club in San Francisco and the encampment in the redwoods; suggestions for activists on what they can learn from social science research; links to Web sites and books about power and social change in the United States; and much more. You can use the menu on the left side of the page to navigate through the site.
Questions and Answers
Q: So, who does rule America?
A: The owners and managers of large income-producing properties; i.e., corporations, banks, and agri-businesses. But they have plenty of help from the managers and experts they hire. You can read the essential details of the argument in this summary of Who Rules America?, or look for the book itself at Amazon.com.
Q: Do the same people rule at the local level that rule at the federal level?
A: No, not quite. The local level is dominated by the land owners and businesses related to real estate that come together as growth coalitions, making cities into growth machines.
Q: Do they rule secretly from behind the scenes, as a conspiracy?
A: No, conspiracy theories are wrong, though it's true that some corporate leaders lie and steal, and that some government officials try to keep things secret (but usually fail).
Q: Then how do they rule?
A: That's a complicated story, but the short answer is through open and direct involvement in policy planning, through participation in political campaigns and elections, and through appointments to key decision-making positions in government.
Q: Are you saying that elections don't matter?
A: No, but they usually matter a lot less than they could, and a lot less in America than they do in other industrialized democracies. That's because of the nature of the electoral rules and the unique history of the South.
Q: Does social science research have anything useful to say about making progressive social change more effective?
A: Yes, it does, but few if any people pay much attention to that research.
Q: Is WhoRulesAmerica.net connected to the site called "Who Rules America?" on natvan.com?
A: No! That site (and many others with documents purporting to tell you "who rules America") is run by a white supremacist/neo-Nazi organization.
Who Rules America? - Tracy Riddle - 19-10-2014
I saw some clips of Domhoff on old episodes of Alternative Views (Texas local access TV), and really liked him. Then I read this page and I think he's not very bright.
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/theory/conspiracy.html
There Are No Conspiracies
"As for assassinations and assassination attempts in the United States, from McKinley to Franklin D. Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy to Martin Luther King, Jr., to Robert F. Kennedy to Reagan, they have been the acts of individuals with no connections to any power groups."Who Rules America? - Peter Lemkin - 19-10-2014
Its an older book, but not a great one...it tried to explain the corrupt system, but from a very 'standard' point of view about the structure of society and power. He was correct in the view that the People have very little power - but missed the mark on who did and exactly how they exercise it.
Who Rules America? - Magda Hassan - 19-10-2014
Tracy Riddle Wrote:"As for assassinations and assassination attempts in the United States, from McKinley to Franklin D. Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy to Martin Luther King, Jr., to Robert F. Kennedy to Reagan, they have been the acts of individuals with no connections to any power groups."
::face.palm::
They are all lone nuts....The US seems to be the only country which manufacture them. Assassins in other countries are almost always connected to some power group and often the US at that. Ah....American exceptionalism strikes again.
Who Rules America? - David Guyatt - 20-10-2014
Tracy Riddle Wrote:I saw some clips of Domhoff on old episodes of Alternative Views (Texas local access TV), and really liked him. Then I read this page and I think he's not very bright.
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/theory/conspiracy.html
There Are No Conspiracies
"As for assassinations and assassination attempts in the United States, from McKinley to Franklin D. Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy to Martin Luther King, Jr., to Robert F. Kennedy to Reagan, they have been the acts of individuals with no connections to any power groups."
Yes, not very bright at all, I think, which is why he said this:
Quote:Q: Are you saying that elections don't matter?[/B]
[B]A: No, but they usually matter a lot less than they could, and a lot less in America than they do in other industrialized democracies. That's because of the nature of the electoral rules and the unique history of the South.
"Other industrialised democracies"...
Doh!