Levers of Power: How the 1% Rules and What the 99% Can Do About It
Understanding the power of the corporations and how to take the struggle directly to them

It's no secret that "the 1%" - the business elite that commands the largest corporations and the connected network of public and private institutions- exercise enormous control over U.S. government. While this control is usually attributed to campaign donations and lobbying, Levers of Power argues that corporate power derives from control over the economic resources on which daily life depends. Government officials must constantly strive to keep capitalists happy, lest they go on "capital strike" - that is, refuse to invest in particular industries or locations, or move their holdings to other countries - and therefore impose material hardship on specific groups or the economy as a whole. For this reason, even politicians who are not dependent on corporations for their electoral success must fend off the interruption of corporate investment.

Levers of Power documents the pervasive power of corporations and other institutions with decision-making control over large pools of capital, particularly the Pentagon. It also shows that the most successful reform movements in recent U.S. history - for workers' rights, for civil rights, and against imperialist wars - succeeded by directly targeting the corporations and other institutional adversaries that initiated and benefitted from oppressive policies. Though most of today's social movements focus on elections and politicians, movements of the "99%" are most effective when they inflict direct costs on corporations and their allied institutions. This strategy is also more conducive to building a revolutionary mass movement that can replace current institutions with democratic alternatives.
1134068062
Levers of Power: How the 1% Rules and What the 99% Can Do About It
Understanding the power of the corporations and how to take the struggle directly to them

It's no secret that "the 1%" - the business elite that commands the largest corporations and the connected network of public and private institutions- exercise enormous control over U.S. government. While this control is usually attributed to campaign donations and lobbying, Levers of Power argues that corporate power derives from control over the economic resources on which daily life depends. Government officials must constantly strive to keep capitalists happy, lest they go on "capital strike" - that is, refuse to invest in particular industries or locations, or move their holdings to other countries - and therefore impose material hardship on specific groups or the economy as a whole. For this reason, even politicians who are not dependent on corporations for their electoral success must fend off the interruption of corporate investment.

Levers of Power documents the pervasive power of corporations and other institutions with decision-making control over large pools of capital, particularly the Pentagon. It also shows that the most successful reform movements in recent U.S. history - for workers' rights, for civil rights, and against imperialist wars - succeeded by directly targeting the corporations and other institutional adversaries that initiated and benefitted from oppressive policies. Though most of today's social movements focus on elections and politicians, movements of the "99%" are most effective when they inflict direct costs on corporations and their allied institutions. This strategy is also more conducive to building a revolutionary mass movement that can replace current institutions with democratic alternatives.
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Levers of Power: How the 1% Rules and What the 99% Can Do About It

Levers of Power: How the 1% Rules and What the 99% Can Do About It

Levers of Power: How the 1% Rules and What the 99% Can Do About It

Levers of Power: How the 1% Rules and What the 99% Can Do About It

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Overview

Understanding the power of the corporations and how to take the struggle directly to them

It's no secret that "the 1%" - the business elite that commands the largest corporations and the connected network of public and private institutions- exercise enormous control over U.S. government. While this control is usually attributed to campaign donations and lobbying, Levers of Power argues that corporate power derives from control over the economic resources on which daily life depends. Government officials must constantly strive to keep capitalists happy, lest they go on "capital strike" - that is, refuse to invest in particular industries or locations, or move their holdings to other countries - and therefore impose material hardship on specific groups or the economy as a whole. For this reason, even politicians who are not dependent on corporations for their electoral success must fend off the interruption of corporate investment.

Levers of Power documents the pervasive power of corporations and other institutions with decision-making control over large pools of capital, particularly the Pentagon. It also shows that the most successful reform movements in recent U.S. history - for workers' rights, for civil rights, and against imperialist wars - succeeded by directly targeting the corporations and other institutional adversaries that initiated and benefitted from oppressive policies. Though most of today's social movements focus on elections and politicians, movements of the "99%" are most effective when they inflict direct costs on corporations and their allied institutions. This strategy is also more conducive to building a revolutionary mass movement that can replace current institutions with democratic alternatives.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781788730969
Publisher: Verso Books
Publication date: 07/07/2020
Pages: 224
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Kevin A. Young is Associate Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Tarun Banerjee is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Michael Schwartz is Distinguished Teaching Professor of Sociology Emeritus at Stony Brook University.

Table of Contents

Tables and Figures vii

Acknowledgments ix

Abbreviations xi

Introduction: Shadow and Substance 1

Part I How Laws are Made

1 Where Laws Come From: Schoolhouse Rock! Reconsidered 27

2 Seeking Consensus with Industry: The Revision Process in Congress 75

Part II Implementing (Or Not) the Law

3 The System We Are Beholden to Serve: Business Hegemony in the Executive Branch 99

4 Attacking the Substance: How Mass Resistance Can Shape the Implementation of Laws 139

Conclusion: A Different Substance 187

Appendices A-C: Sources, Data, and Results on Antipoverty Funding in the US South 197

Index 201

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