Pluralism

There are 4 diff. schools of thought about pol. Elits and how power has actually been distributed: Marxist, power elite, bureaucratic and pluralist. Marxist view is the view that gov. is dominated by capitalist who control the economic will control the politic one. Power elite view is the view that the gov. is dominated by a few top leaders who make the key decisions w/out reference to popular desires. Bureaucratic view is the view that gov. is dominated by appointed officials. Pluralist view is the belief that competition among all affected interest shapes public policy. These groups can be business people, politicians, union leaders, journalists… In my opinion, pluralism is the most valid theory because of its equality, independence and the endless quest.

According to pluralists, one characteristic of pluralism is that the groups are politically independent. They have the right and freedom to do business in the political marketplace. How well they fare depends on their own skill in rallying pol. resources because