Theoretical Perspectives(3) : Wright Mills: Power Elites 

1_ Charles Wright Mills : 
    (1916-1962), popularly known as C. Wright Mills, was a mid-century sociologist as well as journalist. He is known and celebrated for his critiques of contemporary power structures, his spirited treatises on how 
   Sociologists should study social problems and engage with society.His critiques of the field of sociology and academic professionalization of sociologists. 
   Mill’s focus was on the subjects of social inequality, the power of elites and their control of society, the shrinking middle class, the relationship between individuals and society, and the importance of historical perspective as a key part of sociological thinking.
   The Sociological imagination (1959), The power Elite (1956), From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology (1946), The New Men of Power (1948), White Collar (1951), Character and Social Structure: The Psychology of Social (1953), The Causes of World War Three (1958), and Listen, Yankee (1960) are the major contributions of Mills.
2_ Power Elite
    The term power elite was coined by C. W Mills who argued that a small upper class holds most of society’s wealth, prestige and power. He presents a less ambitious and wide – ranging version of elite theory. He limits his analysis to American society in the 1950s. Unlike the early theorists, he does not believe that elite rule is inevitable. In fact, he sees it as a fairly recent
development in the USA.
    He explains elite rule in institutional rather than psychological terms. He rejects the view that members of the elite have superior qualities or psychological characteristics which distinguish them from the rest of the population. Instead he argues that the structure of institutions is such that those at the top of the institutional hierarchy largely monopolize power.
   Certain institutions occupy ‘pivotal positions’ in society and the elite comprise those who hold ‘command posts’ in those institutions .
   Mills identifies three key institutions: the major corporations,the military and the federal government. Those who occupy the command posts in these institutions form three elites. 
   In practice, however, the interests and activities of the elites are sufficiently similar and inter connected to form a single ruling minority which Mills termed as ‘the power elite’. Thus, the power elite involve the ‘coincidence of economic, military and political power.