Men at the top : a study in community power

A frequent criticism of survey research is its failure to place its find ings in some significant theoretical framework. In this study, my pri mary interest has been to ider the viability of politi pluralism in an era of large-scale organization and concentration of political and economic power. This question is important on a normative basis of democratic values, but it also seems vital to analyze in some systematic way the conditions under which pluralism exists. If the meaning of pluralism has been transformed in our society, with its increasingly complex, technical problems, the free intellectual is obligated to face up to this condition, and perhaps to bring demo cratic ideology more in line with reality. While idealized conceptions of our system may inspire both higher aspirations and performance in the real world, it is also true that too great a gap between democratic ideals and reality may inspire fanciful expectations whose frustra tion breeds cynicism. Perhaps one counterpoise is to document exist ing conditions, the better to provide a basis for alternatives that can make our political system more democratic.