ABSTRACT
This chapter considers G. William Domhoff's concept of a policy-planning network to suggest ways in which political science could better integrate concepts and findings about political economy, class analysis, and the American power structure that mainstream political scientists have called for in recent years. The chapter briefly describes several examples of recent scholarship by leading political scientists pertaining to class, power, inequality, and political economy that connect to the perspectives on business dominance of the state. It argues that the tradition of class analysis, political economy, and power structure research would help political scientists explore the deeper questions about power and politics that some are raising. In the wake of the economic downturn of 2008, several prominent political scientists called for better integration between concepts and findings about political economy, class analysis, and the American power structure, on the one hand, and the study of US politics more broadly, on the other.
