despite decades of ‘progressive’ taxation and the welfare state.
Similarly the educational and health opportunities of the working
classes can be demonstrated to be much less than those of the upper
classes. The argument is that the apparent opportunities for political
participation by workers in a democracy are negated by continued
bourgeois control of social structures such as the educational system,
the mass media and the state apparatus as well as of the economy.
Pluralist writers have tended to concentrate on how political
decisions are made. Analysts such as Dahl (1961) and most main-
stream writers on British and American politics have stressed that
any group of citizens is free to influence politicians in competitive
party systems, and that the latter must listen to groups outside the
elite if they are to remain in office. Numerous case studies have found
that the same narrow group of professional politicians has not always
taken decisions, but that, for instance, doctors’ professional asso-
ciations strongly influence decisions on health policy, neighbourhood
action groups can influence planning decisions and so on.
To some extent, therefore, it can be argued that the findings of
these different groups of writers are actually complementary, rather
than conflicting as they often claim or imply. Consider all the
propositions in Box 5.3. Are they in fact inconsistent? More sophis-
ticated versions of each model do often concede many of these points.
For instance, a neo-pluralist school of thought can be identified
(Moloney, 2006). This approach refines the traditional pluralist
position by suggesting that (a) not all groupings are equal, with
businesses having disproportionate power and influence, and (b) that
new sources of power such as pressure groups representing social
movements have increased in influence since the 1960s. This is
sometimes described as ‘accelerated pluralism’.BOX 5.3 PROPOSITIONS FROM PLURALIST, ELITE AND
MARXIST MODELS OF POWER
116 PROCESSES
1 People in different elite groups do have a great deal of interaction
and a substantially common lifestyle.
2 Politicians are often unscrupulous in search of their personal
objectives.