Dye, Thomas R. Who's Running America? -- The Reagan Years. 3rd edition. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1983. 285 pages.

One of the debates in American sociology is between the "pluralist" and "elitist" schools of thought. While both agree that America is not ruled by the masses, the pluralists see this as benign in a society that is more open than most. For the pluralist, the elites maintain an equilibrium of competing interests, and the little guy can make himself felt when he wants to by joining an interest group. Thomas Dye, on the other hand, feels that this competition is more apparent than real.

In 1972 Dye's graduate students at Florida State University began collecting data on some 5,000 elite positions, which by this third edition had expanded to 7,000. His technique, which depends on a definition of "elite" as a person with institutional affiliations, is to study these positions at the upper end of the corporate sector (industrial, utilities, banks, insurance, investments), the public interest sector (media, education, foundations, law, civic and cultural organizations), and the governmental sector (legislative, executive, judicial, military). The persons occupying these positions are noted, and the fact that they frequently hold several of these positions simultaneously is further evidence of a concentration of power at the top. In the course of making his argument, Dye names certain individuals and lists their affiliations.
ISBN 0-13-958470-6

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