Who ran the country then? I learned that there was an elite group, a class that shared certain assumptions and values, and made basic decisions without offering them to anyone as a choice. It was sometimes called "The Club." Its members held controlling positions in government, in law firms, in the courts and in the law schools. They were mostly male lawyers from Ivy League schools - all top notch achievers. Although they were fiercely competitive and gave the appearances of representing many different sides of the issues of the day, it gradually dawned on me that the values they shared, rather than those they debated, represented the true decisions that governed the country.
Charles Reich