The idea that the republican government in America is largely dominated by the wealthy and e

Madison put forth the hope that checks and balances built into the Constitution, and the development of opposing parties, would be sufficient to assure that the greater good of the people was not sacrificed to the good of the powerful elite or "special" interests. It is difficult today to be particularly assured that his hope was fulfilled. Opposing factors in politics have boiled down to two entrenched parties and their highly marginalized and ineffectual "independent" opposition. Both Republicans and Democrats are more alike (they would use the term "centrist") in comparison to independents than they are different. Neither seriously opposes the practice of corporate welfare, the myth of corporations as legal persons, or the privileges of the elite, and both tend to be staffed by highly elite members. Both are prone to lobbying by special interests, and seem to have few truly consistent differences other than minor disagreements as to minor issues of the presentation of their stances. It is worth noting when staunch conservatives argue that both Republicans and Democrats are becoming statist and elitists: "The burgeoning similarity between Republicans and Democrats extends much further. ... [than] "blue-collar" Democrats agreeing with Pat Buchanan on protectionism and on the need to "Buy American." The full nature and spirit of this new coalition is best demonstrated in the joint assault on the First Amendment... Just as the Republicans have abandoned their one-time commitment to economic freedom ... the Democrats have given up on intellectual freedom. The basic viewpoint now shared by Republicans and Democrats is a hostility toward the value of freedom." (Bernstein 1998)

There are many political activities that pluralists are involved in that can influence people's judgment. Obviously, the elite hire a great quantity of lobbyists to convince members of the government to support their purposes, and these lobbyists often provide bribe-like incentives to legislators, from meals to gifts to campaign-contributions. This is largely a domain of the elite, but other interests may also manage to hire lobbyists. Pluralists may join together to fund a lobby, or they may attempt to work at the grassroots level to create agitation for or against a political move. Protests, letter-writing campaigns, political fundraising, and other such activities are all ways that plural forces may affect the decision making process. Because governmental figures still must be elected, if the votes can actually be swayed by a pluralist group, they may have some power. This is especially true at the local level. The educated elite in a pluralist paradigm have another method of influence - they may create the cultural capital, as it were, which influences politicians and the next generatio

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1881
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)