Tyrant, Season 1, Episode 1

Title: Tyrant, Season 1. Episode 1 (20:10-20:55)

Tags: Power Elites, Democracy, Public Action, Freedom, West, Psychological Illiteracy, Control, Totalitarianism, Dictatorship

Author: M. Dakkak

Date: Mar. 30, 2015

click here to view the episode

A Cable Network FX TV Series, Tyrant is an American drama television series based on a fictional Middle Eastern country Abbudin which is ruled by a tyrant who uses and abuses the privilege of power. With an application of Mills' The Power Elite, this analysis explores a scene where the main notions proposed by Mills come into place. The scene illustrates the role of the Power Elite in making decisions regarding all aspects of a nation hence gaining control over military, economic and social power. The notions of democracy and freedom are frowned upon as they go against order and control. The president -the Tyrant views his power position as a governor against chaos. He uses Mills' proposed notions of psychological illiteracy through psychic management and manipulation to persuade people to think that freedom is simultaneously linked with chaos and disaster. The scene also shows the Dictator supporting Mills' notion of Public Action, which is taken only by the assumed needs, and decisions of experts rather than the man on the street. Bassam on the other hand, the Westernized son of the Tyrant, presents the hybridity between the two where he brings notions of American/Western democracy to the East. Being a member of the Elite himself, he gains power within the Elite circle, yet also struggles to guide actions towards modern-day Western ideologies as opposed to the totalitarian dictatorship of Abbudin. 

House of Cards, Season 2, Episode 2

Title: House of Cards, Season 2, Episode 2

Tags: democracy, power elites, connections, public relations 

Author: A. Vogelaar

Date: Feb. 1, 2015

Summary analysis: Netflix wildly powerful, House of Cards, is a dark but poignant drama about the reach, extent and complexity of power in contemporary American politics and society. This analysis applies the thinking of C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite, to the drama such that it may help us ilustrate and better understand Mills' thinking and concepts. At its core, the television drama is a dramatization (and implicit critique/mockery) of Mills assertion that vast concentrations of power had coagulated in three increasingly inter-related organizations in America: the political, corporate and military 'elite'; and that America, as such, was not a 'democracy.' Though the 'players' in House of Cards are different, the 'positions' are not and indeed the show is an excellent illustration of Mills' concern over "the development of a permanent war establishment by a privately incorporated economy inside a political vacuum" (p. 19).  In the specific excerpt shown here, the main character, Frank Underwood, is commenting (during his confirmation as Vice President of the United States of America) about the'theater' of American democracy. Through what we are led to believe are not atypical (be they unethical) political maneuvers, Underwood secures a position in the top tier of American political power without ever having to be subjected to a democratic vote. Instead, Underwood uses his political, economic and military connections and debts (and public relations prowess) to maneuver his way to the top.