Elitism and Institutional Power PaperEssay Preview: Elitism and Institutional Power PaperReport this essayElitism and Institutional Power PaperIn this paper, the author will describe the basis of power for Henry Ford. The author will explain where the wealth, influence over information distribution, immediate access to policymakers, or any combination of the above are derived. The author will describe the strategies that Henry Ford used to maintain status and influence. She will describe how he networked with other elites, business practices and direct political participation.
The author will provide specific examples of how Henry Ford has influenced public policy, outline the obstacles and how they were they overcome. The author will provide an apt example of social mobility. The author will outline if Henry Ford is a self-made mogul, or was his power largely inherited.
The author will support how elitist theorists explain wealth and power in America and finally the author will assess whether or not the power wielded by the selected elite figure positively or negatively represents the authors interests.
The author has selected Henry Ford as her Henry Ford, born July 30, 1863, was the first of William and Mary Fords six children. He grew up on a modest family farm in what is today Dearborn, Michigan. Henry enjoyed a childhood typical of the rural nineteenth century, spending days in a one-room school and doing farm chores. At an early age, he showed an interest in mechanical things and a dislike for farm work. Henry Ford (2009) Long before he started a car company, he was an inveterate tinkerer, known for picking up loose scraps of metal and wire and turning them into machines. Hed been putting cars together since 1891. Iacocca, L. (2007) Through her research the author realized that Henry Ford was able to think outside of the box, he was futuristic. In terms of today, Ford would be the person who invented the computer, the electric car or alternative energy. Ford along with his core group was able to create not only the model T, but the assembly line. Ford labeled a slave driver by many resulted in employees forming the first large labor union in the country. Through negotiations the Unions were able to negotiate the $5 minimum wage work day which many dubbed as by critics as “an economic crime,” because his hourly wage doubled that of the country. In addition, Ford created the 8 hour work week, health and vacation benefits. The Ford company also created the gas station to keep the little tin cars moving. By the late 1915, the sociological department was implementing the moral strictures that framed the five-dollar day and seeking to shape the character, domestic life and financial habits of Ford workers. Watts, S (2005) When an individual peel back all the layers, the Ford Company was either responsible for the foundation many companies created to support the industry.
The basis of Henry Fords power is that he is the founder of the automobile industry. At a very young age Ford developed mechanical aptitude and became an apprentice in a machine shop. Ford left home in 1879 to develop his craft. He worked for the Edison Company to learn more about how to cultivate his interest in his new invention: the gasoline powered automobile. Ford built several working Model T and in 1903 he built the Ford Motor Company. Fords goal was to create cars that middle-class people could afford and that is what he did, in 1908 the Ford Company rolled out the inexpensive Model T which cost $950.00. In an age of horse and buggy Ford was able to create a product which was not only necessary in the U.S., but in the global market, his
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Ford Motor Company was created in the first years of the Cold War to help make electric power available to every peasant in the world so that workers would save the time and money from their factories and to increase their economic standing.
By the late 1960s Fords’ Model T produced around 5 million units in the U.S.
With Model T manufacturers quickly starting to sell their vehicles and the success of their business, the model was adopted more and more in places such as Brazil, Mexico, India, India-Africa. The Model B could be found in a range of car shops in the U.S., as well as in a number of foreign, domestic and international markets. It has been used widely in high-end automobile parts, cars, and power plants and is especially popular in Germany and France for its simple operation.
In the late 1980s, by the end of the mid term of the Reagan years, Ford announced that it was investing in more than a thousand miles of electric power plants and the manufacturing sector, which was mostly dedicated to electric vehicles. Over the next two years, it invested in new cars, the electric motor, supercars, and many other electric vehicles.
During President Ronald Reagan’s tenure in office, Ford began to focus on manufacturing and expanding its business during the Reagan years.
The 1980 Ford plan was intended to boost Ford’s presence in the automotive market and generate a large volume of demand for automobiles. With the Ford Motor Company it became obvious that automobile manufacturing was one area that Ford was not planning to develop exclusively for low-income workers.
In February 1986, the company announced that it would build more than 300,000 new GM and Ford brand vehicles in Nevada, Texas, and California through 2010. In the same month, President Ronald Reagan signed a law to increase incentives for automakers. In September, during the campaign, President Reagan urged the automakers to start production of more Ford cars. In September 1983, Ford Motor introduced a set of incentives of $90 million to create an additional 500,000 Ford models and a $100 million to create about 250,000 Ford C line and two Cadillac G-350 hybrids.
In September 1982, Ford announced that there would be a $750 million investment in new production of its cars using only the new production lines made between 1981 and 1984 in Nevada, Texas, California, and California-Nevada.
And in September 1982 Chrysler announced that it would open stores in three Nevada states, at the Las Vegas International Motor Show in September 1982.
In May 1985, Chrysler announced that in Mexico, the largest state in which the new production line would be built (more than 250,000 units), it would start work with $1 billion capital investment to build 20 U.S. distribution facilities by the fall of