The Elites and the Masses There are many theories relating to the nature of power in society. In modern society, it is important to identify where and when power is exercised, and who benefits and who suffers from its exercise. In this tradition, it is useful to examine the managerialist perspective. Managerialism focuses on organizations as the basis, or unit of analysis of society, to which all other aspects of society are subordinated. These organizations use their resources in an attempt to dominate each other and society. Managerialism tells us that power is concentrated in a group of elites who control organizations and use them as a tool to gain more power and expand their realm of control. Organizational power is increasingly the most important force explaining the direction of change in both state and society (Alford and Friedland, p.174). Therefore, elites are becoming the most important factor determining our society and do not serve all of society's interests, but rather attempt to manipulate the masses to better serve itself. Max Weber's theory of bureaucracy lends itself to the notion of managerialism. He argues that as society becomes more integrated and complex, organizational elites become increasingly dependent on specialists and experts, or on bureaucracies to advise them and influence them on decisions. Bureaucracies are groups of individuals performing specialized tasks that coalesce into a cohesive and efficient unit. Power becomes increasingly centralized within bureaucracies and the elites that control them because as they grow, becoming more powerful, they use that power to gain greater control over the masses. Weber saw the historical development of societies as a movement towards rational forms of organization, that is, groups organized not on the basis of the authority of personalities and traditions but on the basis of specific functions to be performed or objectives to be achieved (Marger p. 72). Weber often used the notion of machine to illustrate what he meant by modern organizations, referring to people as “cogs”; that serve the machine, losing their identity and creativity in the process. Although Weber admitted that both mechanization and bureaucracy together created an extremely efficient and productive economic system, they also worked to build... a paper medium... with common interests coming together for a common goal, while the managerialism believes that power is centralized among a small group of elites who work to gain more power and even manipulate the masses in their own interest. Pluralism holds that citizens dictate to our government the appropriate policies to implement, while managerialism holds that people in a position of power dictate policies to the public. Furthermore, pluralism presupposes a consensus of values ​​between individuals, while managerialism sees society working through conflict and coercion. Bibliography Alford and Friedland, chapter seven, “State and society in managerial perspective”; in Powers of Theory, 1985, p.161-83.Martin Marger, ch.4, "The Elite Model",; in Elites and Masses (New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1981). George Ritzer, “The Weberian theory of rationalization and the McDonaldization of contemporary society”; p 37-62 in P. Kivisto (ed.), Illuminating social like (Thousand Oaks, Pine Forge Press, 1998).C. Wright Mills, “The Structure of Power in America”; in James Farganis (ed.), chap. 11 “Conflict theory”; Readings in Social Theory (NY: McGraw-Hill, 1996).