Political Inequality in Affluent Democracies

Citation: Larry M Bartels (July 11, 2017) Political Inequality in Affluent Democracies. SSRN (RSS)
Internet Archive Scholar (search for fulltext): Political Inequality in Affluent Democracies
Tagged: Sociology (RSS)

Summary

This article is a brief overview of a larger research project to assess the relationship between policy preferences and governmental outcomes, stratified by income. The key question to be answered is to what degree democratic governments are truly responsive to all their citizens or if this influence is substantially mediated by income. Bartels finds across multiple surveys and data sources that middle and lower income citizens tend to have their preferences negatively reflected in government policy.

Theoretical and Practical Relevance

This article offers an important potential source for an explanation of why people in middle and lower income circumstances are disenchanted with democracy: it generally doesn't serve their preferences.