The Power Elite

In the American mind, the public drives policy: There is free expression, with issues debated and no one group monopolizing discussion. Out of such discussion, rationality and truth prevail. This belief, Mills notes, is a “fairy tale” (300). The major and consequential issues are neither raised nor debated by the public at large. Indeed, the classic community of publics, idealized in earlier centuries, is being transformed to a society of masses. The US is not yet a mass society, but it is trending in that direction. Mass societies and publics are distinguished in four ways. First, in a public, the ratio of givers of opinion to receivers is almost equal, while in a mass society, far fewer people express than receive opinions. Second, there is an opportunity to respond to opinions in a public. In contrast, there is virtually no opportunity for an individual to respond with any impact in a mass society. Third, public opinion, formed via discussion, is the basis for effective action in a public, while authorities control actions in a mass society. Finally, there is no autonomy from institutions in a mass society, as they penetrate the masses and eliminate its ability to form an opinion via discussion.