ABSTRACT
Power in America is organized into large institutions, private as well as public—corporations, banks, investment firms, governmental bureaucracies, media empires, law firms, universities, foundations, think tanks, and cultural and civic organizations. The nation's resources are concentrated in relatively few large institutions, and control over these institutional resources is the major source of power in society. The people at the top of these institutions—those who are in a position to direct, manage, and guide institutional programs, policies, and activities—compose the nation's elite.
