Wealth and Power in America
Course Description
This course discusses the issue of wealth, power, and influence in the United States. Who has the wealth in America? Who has power? How is this power wielded to influence public policy? To help students develop perspectives on these issues, two main and contrasting models of American society are presented: the pluralist and elitist model. Each theory will be presented and students should be encouraged to come to their own conclusions through readings, research, and learning team activities.
Topics and Objectives
Philosophical and Religious Search for Truth
- Analyze the mythological development in religious thought.
Pluralism
- Describe how pluralist theorists explain wealth, power, and influence in the United States.
- Examine factors that promote and inhibit pluralist approaches to wealth, power, and influence in the United States.
- Assess whether or not pluralism promotes non-elite participation in political processes.
Elitism
- Describe how elitist theorists explain wealth, power, and influence in the United States.
- Analyze who the elites are in America by educational, racial, religious, gender, and social make-up.
- Analyze how elites in America influence public policy.
- Explain whether or not there is social mobility in America, and, if so, how much?
Organized Interests and Influences on Public Policy
- Analyze how special interest groups shape the public's values and how they "educate" the public.
- Describe the advantages special interest groups have over political parties and individuals in influencing public policy in the United States.
- Describe how lobbyists work and what resources they use to influence public policy.
- Evaluate the role "Political Action Committees" (PAC's) play in American society.
- Explain how issue networks function and how they influence public policy.
Factionalism
- Evaluate the existence of factionalism among elites.
- Examine the differences in pluralist and elite explanations of the significance of factionalism.
Wealth and Power in America
- Explain the importance of understanding wealth, power, and influence in the United States.
- Evaluate the pluralist and elitist theories of American society and develop a personal judgment about which theory most accurately describes the United States.