Does big business unduly influence government?

Yes

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by Chrystal Mahan

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Is Government Dominated By Big Businesses?

I believe Government is dominated by these big businesses.

Who really rules America? That's a question that has always been in much debate. Will that question every really be answered? The Populists wanted economic and political reforms aimed at taking from the rich and giving back to the "plain people." We all know the real saying behind this; take from the rich give to the poor. The Populist believe that yes, U.S. Democratic system is in fact dominated by business elites. The Pluralists argue that no single group can dominate; therefore the U.S. Democratic system is not run by the "power elite." Pluralists make the statement that thanks to new consumer, environmental and other citizen groups big businesses no longer (did it use to?) have a relationship with the Washington policy makers.

Bill Domhoff will argue that yes, these big "elite" businesses dominate the government. Owners and top level managers in the big business are the dominate groups. Their companies form together making "corporate communities." These large communities own the greatest share of income and wealth in the U.S. The government tends to listen to the larger groups and forget about the smaller. These "elite" companies make up 1% of the total population. They are 15.7% of the nation's yearly income, 37.2% own private wealth, 46.9% of the corporate stock and 62.4 % of all bonds. These groups have the largest number of all groups. These groups are holding the higher percentages, that means more voices to be heard in government. The people in these groups tend to be together in the same social groups. These social groups tend to follow and back up the government.

The power "elite" companies do not believe: (1) in creating jobs for the unemployed, (2) make health, unemployment, and welfare benefits more generous, (3) helping employees gain greater workplace right and protections and (4) help workers organize unions. They do not want to do these things because it would raise tax, increase wage and there is no government support for unions. Unions tend to be against the corporate rich. When corporate communities and government tend to fall for the same issues, of course it will seem like the only voice being heard is the larger companies.

According to Domhoff, corporate rich power does not mean lower class is totally powerless. There is an alternative theory: Pluralism. Pluralism says that there is no one dominant group, the power is held by the general public interest groups. He believes these smaller interest groups are actually part of the large elite. Thus, all the voices are being heard in government.

In contrast Berry states that the larger corporations are not the voice of government. The U.S. government is not run by this "elite" group of Big Business. Berry makes the point that the social movements in recent times have affected political system citizen groups, and these groups are not empowering. There is a focus on citizen groups. The focus has affected interest group politics in general and these organizations have contributed to the changing nature of public policymaking. He also goes on to comment that there is a steady decline in the voices being heard in the public policymaking.

Berry makes many points to prove that everyone has an equal voice and that government is not just hearing corporate America. He feels that the reality is government is not really concerned about important issues. In a way, they almost hand it over to the policymakers. He does agree with Domhoff in that big businesses are a dominant force and that their aggressive behavior gets results, but lots of smaller citizen groups have emerged and times have changed. These groups helped the growth of interest groups in politics and the big business has become mobilized. Berry believes these organization have seized control over political agenda, these voices are being heard, not the corporations. Berry thinks that the rise of interest groups, along with the decline of political parties has had a negative impact on American politics. These smaller groups have learned to not follow the leader; instead they are leading their own.

Berry does not think issue networks are on one side and business groups on the other. There are no permanent allies or enemies. He believes the citizen groups are the voices being heard and not the big business because: (1) better at prompting more structured negations (2) they are often the reason sub-governments crumble (3) can not accommodate basic negotiations patterns (4) have a great deal of credibility and (5) are much more unified than a business.

There are still a few questions left to be answered. If big business tend to run together and we think they are running the government, would this then mean that money really does equal power? And what about the business owners working together, would this not cause a form of monopoly? Can the people in government and business be bought? If smaller companies and interest groups speak up louder, is it ever really possible the large will no longer dominate?

Reference:

Who Really Rules America? By Bill Domhoff

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