On Jun 24, 2010, at 12:54 PM, Carrol Cox wrote:
> I have argued before that the "ruling class" Domhoff et al describe is
> only a layer of the ruling class. That that class as a whole probably
> includes arund 5% of the population (which has been the case in most
> societies). Hence it includes a rather large number of non-"superrich"
> people. This article suggests that there is or may be a serious split
> between the "corporate elite" on the one hand and the mass of regional
> and local layers of the ruling class.
Mills made a similar point in the power elite - you have your regional worthies, and then a national class. I've always thought that Congress was essentially a creature of the regional r.c., and the executive branch of the national. Of course, the national also blends into a globalizing class, though claims that the elite has been thoroughly internationalized are ahead of reality. But that national ruling class has long had a sense of the U.S.'s global role, as James Livingston made clear in his wonderful book on the creation of the Federal Reserve.
Doug