Growing Economic Inequality and Its (Partially) Political Roots
Growing economic inequality fosters inequality in the political processes of American democracy. Since the 1970’s inequalities in earnings and wealth have increased dramatically in the United States creating a higher level of inequality in disposable income than in other developed democracies. The U...
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doaj-8fac194cfd2b4762b2227c1c882607032020-11-24T22:22:24ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442017-05-01859710.3390/rel8050097rel8050097Growing Economic Inequality and Its (Partially) Political RootsKay Lehman Schlozman0Henry E. Brady1Sidney Verba2Department of Political Science, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USAGoldman School of Public Policy, University of California–Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USADepartment of Government, Harvard University; Cambridge, MA 02138, USAGrowing economic inequality fosters inequality in the political processes of American democracy. Since the 1970’s inequalities in earnings and wealth have increased dramatically in the United States creating a higher level of inequality in disposable income than in other developed democracies. The United States also lags behind other rich nations in the way it provides for those at the bottom of the income distribution, and there is no evidence that the opportunities for success promised by the American Dream compensate for inequality in America. Technological and economic developments are significant causes of this growing economic inequality. The role of politics is more controversial, but government policy influences the distribution of income and education by the way it determines government benefits, taxes and the way markets function. For a number of reasons—including, most importantly, the relationship between education and income and the ability of the affluent to make large campaign donations—those who are economically well-off speak more loudly in politics. They are more likely to engage in most forms of individual political participation—not only ones that involve using cash but also ones that cost nothing except time. Moreover, when it comes to political voice through organizations, a professionalized domain dominated by hired experts in which the volume of political voice can be altered to reflect available economic resources, affluent interests are more likely to be organized and active. This essay considers the growing economic inequalities that form an important part of the backdrop for unequal political voice.http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/8/5/97economic inequalitypolitical equalitydemocracypolitical voicepolitical participationhousehold income and wealthgovernment influence on marketslabor unions |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Kay Lehman Schlozman Henry E. Brady Sidney Verba |
spellingShingle |
Kay Lehman Schlozman Henry E. Brady Sidney Verba Growing Economic Inequality and Its (Partially) Political Roots Religions economic inequality political equality democracy political voice political participation household income and wealth government influence on markets labor unions |
author_facet |
Kay Lehman Schlozman Henry E. Brady Sidney Verba |
author_sort |
Kay Lehman Schlozman |
title |
Growing Economic Inequality and Its (Partially) Political Roots |
title_short |
Growing Economic Inequality and Its (Partially) Political Roots |
title_full |
Growing Economic Inequality and Its (Partially) Political Roots |
title_fullStr |
Growing Economic Inequality and Its (Partially) Political Roots |
title_full_unstemmed |
Growing Economic Inequality and Its (Partially) Political Roots |
title_sort |
growing economic inequality and its (partially) political roots |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Religions |
issn |
2077-1444 |
publishDate |
2017-05-01 |
description |
Growing economic inequality fosters inequality in the political processes of American democracy. Since the 1970’s inequalities in earnings and wealth have increased dramatically in the United States creating a higher level of inequality in disposable income than in other developed democracies. The United States also lags behind other rich nations in the way it provides for those at the bottom of the income distribution, and there is no evidence that the opportunities for success promised by the American Dream compensate for inequality in America. Technological and economic developments are significant causes of this growing economic inequality. The role of politics is more controversial, but government policy influences the distribution of income and education by the way it determines government benefits, taxes and the way markets function. For a number of reasons—including, most importantly, the relationship between education and income and the ability of the affluent to make large campaign donations—those who are economically well-off speak more loudly in politics. They are more likely to engage in most forms of individual political participation—not only ones that involve using cash but also ones that cost nothing except time. Moreover, when it comes to political voice through organizations, a professionalized domain dominated by hired experts in which the volume of political voice can be altered to reflect available economic resources, affluent interests are more likely to be organized and active. This essay considers the growing economic inequalities that form an important part of the backdrop for unequal political voice. |
topic |
economic inequality political equality democracy political voice political participation household income and wealth government influence on markets labor unions |
url |
http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/8/5/97 |
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