UPPER CLASS

• Who are the ruling elites?

  small group holding great power and privilege, passed through generations
• how do the ruling elites gain their power?

  ownership of means of production and control of financial institutions
• what connect members of the ruling elite?

  family (intermarrying) education (fee paying) and shared background
• who are the Establishment?

  big businesses, bankers, politicians, accountants etc
• what are the establishment also known as?

  new money
• what is the shared belief of the establishment?

  free market economy - competition for businesses, cutting taxes, lower wages

  political ideology
• what connects members of the establishment?

  shared interests over shared backgrounds
• What do Westergard and Resler say about the upper class?

  there is still a power elite who control business and the economy
• what does Saunders say about the upper class?

  more people own shares, power is spread more widely. The small minority in power has been replaced with a nation of stakeholders (new right)
• what does Jones say about the upper class?

  argues the old elite groups have been replaced by the establishment