What’s Hegemony?

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The term “hegemony” refers to the leadership, dominance, or great influence that one entity or group of people has over others. Historically, this term often referred to a city-state or country that exercised power over other city-states or countries indirectly rather than through military force. Modern uses of “hegemony” often refer to one group in a society having power over others within that society. For example, the rich class could be said to have hegemony over the poor due to their ability to use their money to influence many aspects of society and government.

This word comes from the Greek verb hegeisthai, which translates as “to lead.” The first leaders who were able to exert control and influence over a group of people could be called hegemons. A hegemon had to have the support of at least one ruling class of people to prevent the population as a whole from rebelling against the leadership.

Domination and influence
Hegemony most often refers to the power of a single group in a society to essentially lead and dominate other groups in the society. This could be done by controlling forms of communication, influencing voters or influencing government leaders. Some pressure groups, for example, may have hegemonic status over leaders in congress. Rules that would prohibit or limit political spending by special interest groups are designed to reduce their dominance and allow individual voters to have more control.

A single country could also be considered hegemonic if it has enough power to influence the way other countries behave. Hegemonic states, such as the mid-19th century British Empire, have tremendous influence over many other countries. The hegemony that exists in a single country means that the dominant and most influential group is often able to influence government policies to their advantage.

The power of the rich
In many democracies, the rich class can be said to have hegemony over the middle class and the poor. Wealthy individuals may contribute the most money to the campaigns of certain political candidates, political parties, or causes. To ensure reelection or continuity of contributions, government officials using those funds could then pass laws or create policies that benefit those who contribute to campaigns. People who don’t have the money to contribute, however, aren’t able to influence government in the same way.

One argument against the significant dominance of the poor by the rich is that the rich do not all share the same political ideologies, and that different members of the upper class might actually contribute to competing candidates, parties, or causes. Also, not all rich people favor policies that benefit only the rich, such as some tax laws, and many rich people support policies that benefit the poor. This means that the wealthy class’s money is not necessarily used to increase its dominance or influence over the poor and might even help the poor.
Power of the media
Besides money, other forms of influence can be used by one group to dominate others. For example, media control can influence things like which programs are aired or canceled and the degree to which a television station covers or does not cover certain news stories. In the late 20th and early 20th centuries, however, this dominance was reduced as the Internet gave individuals and small businesses greater access and control over different forms of media, such as news and music.

People have become able to self-publish music, videos, lyrics, and other artwork rather than being under the control of broadcasters, publishers, or other types of corporations. Additionally, a greater variety of these works has become available to consumers. The news was disseminated through blogs and social networking websites in addition to the traditional media. All these things have reduced the hegemony of big companies in the news and entertainment industry.

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