Rules America? G. William Domhoff's Book Report

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Rahm Emmanuel, the son of an Israeli immigrant, fits the elite 'profile' less well but was highly prominent in the Clinton Administration, thus reflecting a 'hold over' of power rather than a radical break with the previous Republican administration. Emmanuel also has an MA from Northwestern University. Obama senior advisor David Axelrod was a prominent member of the Chicago media and has a degree from the University of Chicago. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is a career civil servant. Geithner is also the former President of the Fed of New York State, where the financial industry of the nation is based (Pijanowski 2010).

While members of the current Democratic-lead cabinet may have more public policy and legal expertise than corporate experience, overall Domhoff's thesis seems to receive at least some support, given their biographies. Additionally, while recent Latina Supreme Court appointee Sonya Sotomayor might seem to be a deviation from an elitist trend because of her gender and ethnicity, she is a graduate of Princeton and Harvard. Supreme Court justices are disproportionately from Ivy League law institutions.

Healthcare reform

The fact that recent healthcare reform passed is less impressive when one considers that the U.S. is one of the few major industrialized countries that does not provide universal coverage for all of its citizens under the law.

Three pieces of evidence that refute Domhoff's argument

The mere fact that Obama attempted healthcare reform, despite its likely unpopularity amongst financial contributors to both liberal and conservative campaign donors indicates that he is not merely cravenly supporting American's elite in his policy decision-making.

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The fact that President Obama's parents came from middle-class Kansas society and that his father grew up poor in Kenya also support a notion that there is some 'meritocracy' as does the poor background of his wife African-American Michelle (Michelle's father worked for the city and suffered the chronic, debilitating condition of MS). While many members of the Obama Administration are from elite schools, all entered only after these institutions were pressured to admit more minorities and women during the 1970s.

Additional data or research studies that would be useful

Given that so much of Domhoff's argument is rooted in the argument that there is an unholy, close relationship between corporate America and politics, a breakdown of what specific corporations gave money to which politicians would be valuable. Additionally, an analysis of how many prominent leaders of the wealthiest corporate interests have genuinely been self-made people would be valuable, to see if they are as few in number as the author claims. Many entertainers (Oprah and Martha Stewart, for example) have poor or working-class backgrounds that seem to refute Domhoff's argument about how only members of the elite can succeed. An analysis of what industries from which the wealthiest derive their money, and the extent to which they had financial support in their first endeavors would give a more subtle picture of the degree to which having power and money generates more power and money for one's offspring.

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