According to the Marxist view, power resides in Britain with anyone who is rich and can influence them, with their money, to do something. The poorer people (working class) have no power, and as long as they have no money they will have no power. However it is said that if the working class realise that they are being exploited by the middle class, then there could be a revolution, where the proletariats have power over the bourgeoisie. Although there are fewer capitalists than workers, the majority of wealth and power is held by them. This is argued to be the cause of inequalities in British society and the unevenness of the distribution of power. This is why Marxists are very critical of the British political system.
The Elitist view on power is that it resides in a few competing elites in the U.K. That is, the large business bosses, of companies such as, oil, military and manufacturing. These people are argued to exercise power for their own gain. These ruling elites may replace each other, but there will always be an elite at the top. This situation is said to arise because people are said to be naturally apathetic, i.e. we are passive and uninterested in politics. The elite’s misuse of power is not necessarily found to be in the best interests of the majority of people.
Elitists say that there is a cohesive political class which monopolises power in British politics. Also known as the establishment, members who occupy elite positions, are recruited from a small minority of the population, with highly privileged backgrounds.
Pluralists believe that power is widely spread in the U.K. Through democracy we are all argued to be able to exercise power. If a majority of the population do not like what representatives are doing, they can be voted out at the next election. This is why the people have power, because the representatives have to please the majority. In the House of Commons, the representatives are voted in by the people of that constituency, and therefore have to please that constituency. We in the U.K. are also able to exercise power, by joining trade unions, pressure groups and political parties. Pressure groups help to influence a government’s decision, if they become insiders. Pluralists say that it is impossible for power to reside in just a single group or person, because they will not be able to cope with the pressures of opposing groups.
Pluralists appreciate the British political system, because it is said to be healthy, and it encourages political participation. The British political system allo2ws the views of minority groups to be dispersed.
All these three views state that power resides in different places in the U.K. However the Marxists and Elitist views are quite similar. The elitist believe that power is held by a few elites in the U.K. while Marxists believe that power is held by a single elite group. This single elite group is a combination of all the competing elites, who want power. The Marxists say that this is what creates the ‘capitalist’ ruling class. Elitists conflict with Pluralists, in many ways. Pluralists say that political parties/pressure groups help democracy, and use this to say that power is dispersed over the majority. However Elitists say that the views of pressure groups are sometimes ignored, if they conflict even very slightly with the political party’s ideas. Elitist also say that pressure or political groups are not equal in status. Some are more powerful than others, and any dispute is likely to be won by the more powerful group.
