Power In Modern Societies

Marvin E. Olsen was professor of sociology at Michigan State University until his death in May 1992. Martin N. Marger is associate professor of sociology at Michigan State University.

• Preface -- Credits -- Power in Social Organization -- Problems in Defining Power -- Power as a Societal Force -- Forms and Levels of Power Exertion -- Power, Domination, and Legitimacy -- Power-Dependence Relations -- Power and Distributive Systems -- Power in Society as Resource and Problem -- Theoretical Perspectives on Power -- The Materialistic Conception of History -- Inventory of Marx’s Ideas -- The Materialist Interpretation of History -- The Iron Law of Oligarchy -- The Ruling Elites -- Influence of Democracy on the Feelings of the Americans -- Sociopolitical Pluralism -- National Power Structures -- The Structure of Power in American Society -- The American Power Structure -- The Structure of a National Elite Network -- Elite Integration in Stable Democracies -- The Structure of Intercorporate Unity in American Business -- Upper-Class Power -- The Mass Media as a Power Institution -- Power and the State -- Paradigms of Relations Between State and Society -- Marxist Theories of the Capitalist State -- The State System and the State Elite -- The Reification of the State -- The Ruling Class Does Not Rule -- The Potential Autonomy of the State -- The Autonomous Power of the State