Recent orders
Various theories have been postulated in concern to the distribution of power within the society, and among them include the
Students Name
Institution of Affiliation
Course Title
Date
Various theories have been postulated in concern to the distribution of power within the society, and among them include the elitist and pluralist theories. The two are different as their ideologies tend to conflict with each other. Pluralist theory asserts that all those who tend to participate in power belong to the same status and therefore are equal with regards to power, rights, and possessions. On the other hand, elitist theory takes a different angle explaining that the privileged or the elite class have the right to take power due to the apparent superiority granted to them through their success (Takata, 2016). According to this definition, pluralism is, therefore, a form of government characterized by the minority groups retaining their independent cultural traditions while elitism is a society that is domineered by the elite in power.
The pluralist theory has no concern on material power as everyone is equal in the society, and based on this theory, power can be in many forms that include religious, political, or the persuasive power. Pluralism can be distributed to all members of the society in an equal way, and no person has greater of lesser say in the institution that the other. The theory further suggests that nobody has control over the social contract as everyone possesses an equal portion of the social contract. The pluralist theory challenges the ideas of how to govern as well as the need for a ruler to oversight the system as it lays arguments that there should be no system leave alone the head of the system at any point.
Elitism, on the other hand, is contrasted to pluralism in that it dwells more on material power (Domhoff, 2017). The theory claims that the people who have resources or the privileged ones must be successful and at the same time be rightful rulers. The reason why the theory claims so is that it questions the reason why the material possession got to be owned by the few individuals claiming that they are more superior, and this makes superiority be the holding ground for the elitist theory. In addition, the theory assumes that any person who has achieved should be of a higher mental capacity than the less privileged and therefore, are assumed to be worthy of taking the position of power. To the elitists, they assume that people are common because they lack superiority and thus, they should pave the way for the privileged to assume the positions of power.
In contrast to the pluralist theory that does not favor governance and positions of power, elitism recognizes the need for governorship among the people in the society as well as the positions of power and in respect to this, they propose that, they the elites should rule as they have a lot of material power and claim that they have the most to lose in the event that they are unsuccessful if they fail to take the positions of power in the social contract. Elitism argues that if the elites or those who have material power are allowed to rule, the society will be orderly because the elites will keep it together in order so that they are able to sustain their foothold in the society (Wrong, 2017).
Another main difference between pluralism and elitism is held in the decision making. In pluralism, the individuals who are entrusted with decision-making positions are in constant movements, moving in and out of power and therefore there is a possibility of inconsistencies in decision making, which makes it hard to retain control of the government or the society. On the other hand, elitism is different, people who make decisions are always at the top and the masses are uninformed (Carlton, 2017), and therefore, a command chain is followed in both decision making and implementation.
References
Carlton, E. (2017). The few and the Many: A Typology of Elites. Routledge.
Domhoff, G. W. (2017). The power elite and the state. Routledge.
Takata, Y. (2016). Power theory of economics. Springer.
Wrong, D. (2017). Power: Its forms, bases and uses. Routledge.
as presented from the figure above
are essential to assess the growing population and its effects on the development of poverty across years. The rising and falling depend on the performance of the economy ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“”citationID””:””rrjtClQe””
Theme of Life and Death in ‘Beowulf’ and ‘The Garden Party’
Students Name
Institution of Affiliation
Course Title
Date
Theme of Life and Death in ‘Beowulf’ and ‘The Garden Party’
Death and life is a common theme in the two short stories, “Beowulf” and “The Garden Party.” In the two stories, the authors managed to bring into light the aspect of mortality, with some of the members of the society dying while others have the opportunity to live. Death can be caused by various things ranging from natural death to induced death that may result from war and accidents. In the two short stories, the theme of life and death causes grief, and there are various illustrations cited from the book that backs the theme of life and death. Therefore, the central theme in the two short stories is life and death, which is induced by the brutality with the victims dying of unnatural causes that include war and accidents.
While there are many themes in Beowulf, the most central theme happens to be that of mortality. Throughout the poem, death has been an imminent topic, and nearly everything in Beowulf leads to death. While the theme of mortality can be seen as morbid and depressing, this is not the case as the theme of mortality is the epitome of Beowulf’s prowess and heroism. For example, in Heaney (55), “Beowulf was granted the glory of winning; Grendel was driven under the fen-banks, fatally hurt, to his desolate lair.” The author even constantly reminds the reader that everyone in the short story is destined to die, but this does not stop the warriors from fighting, and this is where the heroic side of the poem comes in. The warriors depict bravery and courage through their continued fights in the face of probable defeat leading to death. An example from the poem that depicts acts of bravery and courage include “I shall win the gold by my courage, or else mortal combat, doom of battle, will bear your lord away” (Heaney, 171).
Beowulf in the story is constantly boasting about his strength, and this intrigues the reader of his fear of mortality. In actual sense, Beowulf does not fear mortality as he just does it in a different manner from what we are accustomed to in the normal lives. Rather than running away from his responsibility of protecting his people, Beowulf is ready to face death in the attempt of helping, a depiction of heroism. He risks his life on two occasions; facing the monster and his mother and fighting with the angry dragon. Through these acts, Beowulf earns respect and becomes popular. For example, in Heaney (171), Beowulf spoke, made a formal boast for the last time: “I risked my life often when I was young. Now I am old, but as king of the people, I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning.” Dying to save is an act of selflessness and heroic at the same time. In the end, Beowulf dies after killing the dragon, fulfilling the author’s words that everyone in the story shall die.
Despite being a minor theme compared to life in the story “The Garden Party,” it covers the whole story, telling the reader of Laura’s experiences. Mortality is the catalyst through which various changes occurs in a number of key stories within the overall work. Mr. Scott’s death in the story awakens Laura, the main character, a dislike of her family’s elitism as death in the story has been used as a method for enlightenment. When Laura visits the Scotts, she is surprised to find to find the dead man’s face wonderful and happy. Her journey across the threshold of Scott’s living place is a representation of her transition from sheltered adolescence to maturity of adulthood. In confronting the reality of death, she learns something about the nature of life and living. Laura even contemplates of stopping the party, as she finds it to be too difficult for the widow and her children to listen to joyful music when her husband just died. The theme of life and death has been a basement pillar in the story, although the author has not given it much attention.
Works Cited
Bausch, Richard, ed. The Norton anthology of short fiction. WW Norton & Company, 2015.
Heaney, Seamus. New Selected Poems, 1988-2013. Faber & Faber, 2015.