In the early 1970s Eugene Ruyle, my Marxist anthropology professor (yes, he really was a self-avowed Marxist) assigned a book, “Who Rules America” by G. William Domhoff, which described the mechanisms by which business elites ruled the country. As one might expect, the book grotesquely over-simplified reality, but it contained elements of undeniable truth.
As I began writing this blog post, I checked Amazon.com out of curiosity and found that the book has been updated and is still in print. This excerpt from the book description sums up Domhoff’s thesis nicely (my italics) :
Domhoff argues that the owners and top-level managers in large income-producing properties are far and away the dominant figures in the U.S. Their corporations, banks, and agribusinesses come together as a corporate community that dominates the federal government in Washington and their real estate, construction, and land development companies form growth coalitions that dominate most local governments.
That second sentence sums up the thrust of the two lead pieces in today’s edition of Bacon’s Rebellion. Peter Galuszka and I teamed up for a mini-version of “Who Rules Virginia?” I wish I’d dusted off my old copy of “Who Rules America?” It might have come in handy when I was writing over the weekend.
In my column, “The Ruling Party,” I expand upon an argument that should be familiar to readers of this blog. While there may be real differences between Democrats and Republicans on social and cultural issues, both are establishment parties that are virtually indistinguishable in how they work on behalf of the vested business and economic interests that bankroll their political campaigns. When it comes to legislating transportation, land use, energy and the environment, there are no meaningful differences between Ds and Rs — unless it’s the counter-intuitive notion that the Dems are even more beholden to the “growth lobby” than the Republicans.
Drawing upon data from the Virginia Public Access Project (I genuflect in their general direction), I show who the dominant constituencies in Virginia are, how much they spend on campaign contributions, and how they work to protect Business As Usual — or, as my 60’s-holdover anthro professor would have called it, the “status quo.” The difference between Mr. Ruyle and myself is that I’m not under any illusion that a proletariat revolution is going to solve anything, nor do I demonize business interests for looking out for their own self interest in an era of ever-expanding government power. When everyone else is reaching into the government goody bag, it’s hard to blame business for doing the same.
But, if we’re ever going to reinvent transportation, health care, schools, human settlement patterns, the energy economy and environmental protections with the goal of making Virginia competitive in the 21st century, we must blast a number of vested interests out of their political pill boxes. (I’ve been watching the “Letters from Iwo Jima,” can you tell?)
While my story glosses the surface and hits the big themes, Peter’s article, “‘Senator’ Thomas,” hones in on a case study of William G. Thomas, the most influential lobbyist in Virginia. Thomas’ roster of clients is a who’s who of those who rule Virginia — Dominion Virginia Power, Capital One, Smithfield and Genworth (that’s four Fortune 500 companies), not to mention the Home Builders Association of Virginia and other assorted muckety-mucks. Particularly instructive is the web of personal relationships that Thomas has built over the years as a former chairman of the Democratic Party, board member of Dominion and law partner with super-developer John “Til” Hazel.
Thomas is smooth, gentlemanly, witty — and very much a defender of the business status quo. Incredibly wired into the power structure, he has entre to the highest levels of business and political power. He also has a gift for working through incredibly complex legislation. If he is lobbying in favor of electric re-regulation or against the proffer system, few are the forces that can stand in his way.
