The first three theories of political elitism – developed, respectively, by Marx, Mills, and Weber – most likely cannot coexist with a representative democracy, simply because they allow the people little to no involvement in the nation's political process. Pluralism, however, is the situation most likely to hold true in the United States, for it entails the existence of numerous elites, each of which is responsive to its follower's interests.
             If Karl Marx's theory of political elites held true in the United States, for instance, there would be little opportunity for the "power of the people" to take root and flourish. Marxists believe that the government itself holds little significance or power, because it is simply controlled by the dominant economic class. Political decisions are made by whichever class holds power at a certain point in time: the capitalists or the workers. The members of the dominant social/economic class would then construct policies that promote their own interests, not the interests of the other classes. Such a situation would render impossible any form of representative democracy, because the great majority of the people would hold no influence on (or knowledge of ) the government's decisions. While, in a representative democracy, officials of the government work for the interests of their constituents, government leaders in a Marxist political system would have no obligation to do as the people demand.
             C. Wright Mills' theory of the "power elite" expands on Marx's idea of the elite, but still runs contrary to any form of representative democracy. Mills believed that a nongovernmental elite composed of three tiers – corporate leaders, military officers, and top political officials – makes most of a society's major decisions. He claimed that this triumvirate serves the interests of the elite, not that of the majority. In the USA...