| The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996. |
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| NUMBER: | 39801 |
| QUOTATION: | By the power elite, we refer to those political, economic, and military circles which as an intricate set of overlapping cliques share decisions having at least national consequences. In so far as national events are decided, the power elite are those who decide them. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | C. Wright Mills (1916–1962), U.S. sociologist. The Power Elite, ch. 1, “The Higher Circles,” (1956). |
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| | | The Columbia World of Quotations. Copyright © 1996 Columbia University Press. |
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