Kay Lehman Schlozman, Sidney Verba, and Henry E. Brady
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691154848
- eISBN:
- 9781400841912
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691154848.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
Politically active individuals and organizations make huge investments of time, energy, and money to influence everything from election outcomes to congressional subcommittee hearings to local school ...
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Politically active individuals and organizations make huge investments of time, energy, and money to influence everything from election outcomes to congressional subcommittee hearings to local school politics, while other groups and individual citizens seem woefully underrepresented in our political system. This book is a comprehensive and systematic examination of political voice in America, and its findings are sobering. The book looks at the political participation of individual citizens alongside the political advocacy of thousands of organized interests—membership associations such as unions, professional associations, trade associations, and citizens groups, as well as organizations like corporations, hospitals, and universities. Drawing on numerous in-depth surveys of members of the public as well as the largest database of interest organizations ever created—representing more than 35,000 organizations over a 25-year period—this book conclusively demonstrates that American democracy is marred by deeply ingrained and persistent class-based political inequality. The well-educated and affluent are active in many ways to make their voices heard, while the less advantaged are not. This book reveals how the political voices of organized interests are even less representative than those of individuals, how political advantage is handed down across generations, how recruitment to political activity perpetuates and exaggerates existing biases, how political voice on the Internet replicates these inequalities—and more. In a true democracy, the preferences and needs of all citizens deserve equal consideration. Yet equal consideration is only possible with equal citizen voice. This book reveals how far we really are from the democratic ideal and how hard it would be to attain it.Less
Politically active individuals and organizations make huge investments of time, energy, and money to influence everything from election outcomes to congressional subcommittee hearings to local school politics, while other groups and individual citizens seem woefully underrepresented in our political system. This book is a comprehensive and systematic examination of political voice in America, and its findings are sobering. The book looks at the political participation of individual citizens alongside the political advocacy of thousands of organized interests—membership associations such as unions, professional associations, trade associations, and citizens groups, as well as organizations like corporations, hospitals, and universities. Drawing on numerous in-depth surveys of members of the public as well as the largest database of interest organizations ever created—representing more than 35,000 organizations over a 25-year period—this book conclusively demonstrates that American democracy is marred by deeply ingrained and persistent class-based political inequality. The well-educated and affluent are active in many ways to make their voices heard, while the less advantaged are not. This book reveals how the political voices of organized interests are even less representative than those of individuals, how political advantage is handed down across generations, how recruitment to political activity perpetuates and exaggerates existing biases, how political voice on the Internet replicates these inequalities—and more. In a true democracy, the preferences and needs of all citizens deserve equal consideration. Yet equal consideration is only possible with equal citizen voice. This book reveals how far we really are from the democratic ideal and how hard it would be to attain it.
Benjamin I. Page
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195170665
- eISBN:
- 9780199850204
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195170665.003.0048
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter examines the obstacles to egalitarian policies for health care. One is the decentralized nature of American politics, characterized by separation of powers and federalism, which provides ...
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This chapter examines the obstacles to egalitarian policies for health care. One is the decentralized nature of American politics, characterized by separation of powers and federalism, which provides multiple veto points for stopping new programs. The second factor is a high degree of political inequality that enables small but active and affluent groups of individuals and corporations to prevent major egalitarian policy changes. The chapter also suggests that removing the obstacles to egalitarian programs is possible through four political strategies: (1) organize, particularly at the grass roots; (2) build incrementally toward long-term goals; (3) think big and seize opportunities when they arise; and (4) reform the political process itself.Less
This chapter examines the obstacles to egalitarian policies for health care. One is the decentralized nature of American politics, characterized by separation of powers and federalism, which provides multiple veto points for stopping new programs. The second factor is a high degree of political inequality that enables small but active and affluent groups of individuals and corporations to prevent major egalitarian policy changes. The chapter also suggests that removing the obstacles to egalitarian programs is possible through four political strategies: (1) organize, particularly at the grass roots; (2) build incrementally toward long-term goals; (3) think big and seize opportunities when they arise; and (4) reform the political process itself.
Ekrem Karakoç
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- October 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198826927
- eISBN:
- 9780191865831
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198826927.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, European Union
This chapter returns to the research question of this study and briefly restates its argument and main findings. It discusses the role of explanatory factors of this study, namely party system ...
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This chapter returns to the research question of this study and briefly restates its argument and main findings. It discusses the role of explanatory factors of this study, namely party system institutionalization, turnout, social policy legacy in shaping welfare policies, and inequality in new democracies. Then it asks to what extent income inequality and political inequality foster one another, and argues for the importance of economic resources in creating political equality among citizens. The chapter ends with a discussion of the major debate on populism and democratic backsliding in new democracies, with a focus on Turkey and Poland. It emphasizes the conducive political and economic context that encouraged the rise of (populist) parties with nationalist/illiberal discourse and policies in these countries.Less
This chapter returns to the research question of this study and briefly restates its argument and main findings. It discusses the role of explanatory factors of this study, namely party system institutionalization, turnout, social policy legacy in shaping welfare policies, and inequality in new democracies. Then it asks to what extent income inequality and political inequality foster one another, and argues for the importance of economic resources in creating political equality among citizens. The chapter ends with a discussion of the major debate on populism and democratic backsliding in new democracies, with a focus on Turkey and Poland. It emphasizes the conducive political and economic context that encouraged the rise of (populist) parties with nationalist/illiberal discourse and policies in these countries.
Russell J. Dalton
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- November 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198733607
- eISBN:
- 9780191797989
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198733607.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter summarizes the results of this study: changes in social structure and participation patterns are increasing social-status-based inequality in political participation. Those with higher ...
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This chapter summarizes the results of this study: changes in social structure and participation patterns are increasing social-status-based inequality in political participation. Those with higher educational levels, incomes, or occupation have greater political voice, while lower-status individuals are less politically involved. Moreover, the politically rich are getting richer, and the politically poor are getting poorer. The chapter then discusses the implications of these results. The chapter considers claims that participation erodes governance and some form of epistocracy (rule by the knowledgeable) is preferable. Cross-national analysis shows that well-governed democracies have high levels of citizen participation, including both conventional and contentious forms of action. In addition, the size of the SES participation gap is negatively related to good governance. The conclusion discusses ways that democracies might narrow the participation gap and give voice to those citizens who need government support.Less
This chapter summarizes the results of this study: changes in social structure and participation patterns are increasing social-status-based inequality in political participation. Those with higher educational levels, incomes, or occupation have greater political voice, while lower-status individuals are less politically involved. Moreover, the politically rich are getting richer, and the politically poor are getting poorer. The chapter then discusses the implications of these results. The chapter considers claims that participation erodes governance and some form of epistocracy (rule by the knowledgeable) is preferable. Cross-national analysis shows that well-governed democracies have high levels of citizen participation, including both conventional and contentious forms of action. In addition, the size of the SES participation gap is negatively related to good governance. The conclusion discusses ways that democracies might narrow the participation gap and give voice to those citizens who need government support.
Rubie Watson and Patricia Buckley Ebrey (eds)
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520069305
- eISBN:
- 9780520910454
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520069305.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
Until now our understanding of marriage in China has been based primarily on observations made during the twentieth century. The research of ten scholars that is presented here provides a new vision ...
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Until now our understanding of marriage in China has been based primarily on observations made during the twentieth century. The research of ten scholars that is presented here provides a new vision of marriage in Chinese history, exploring the complex interplay between marriage and the social, political, economic, and gender inequalities which have so characterized Chinese society.Less
Until now our understanding of marriage in China has been based primarily on observations made during the twentieth century. The research of ten scholars that is presented here provides a new vision of marriage in Chinese history, exploring the complex interplay between marriage and the social, political, economic, and gender inequalities which have so characterized Chinese society.
Lucia McMahon
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801450525
- eISBN:
- 9780801465888
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801450525.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This book narrates a story about how a generation of young women who enjoyed access to new educational opportunities made sense of their individual and social identities in an American nation marked ...
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This book narrates a story about how a generation of young women who enjoyed access to new educational opportunities made sense of their individual and social identities in an American nation marked by stark political inequality between the sexes. The book reviews educated women's experiences with particular life stages and relationship arcs: friendship, family, courtship, marriage, and motherhood. In their personal and social relationships, educated women attempted to live as the “mere equals” of men. Their often frustrated efforts reveal how early national Americans grappled with the competing issues of women's intellectual equality and sexual difference. In the new nation, a pioneering society, pushing westward and unmooring itself from established institutions, often enlisted women's labor outside the home and in areas that we would deem public. Yet, as a matter of law, women lacked most rights of citizenship and this subordination was authorized by an ideology of sexual difference. What women and men said about education, how they valued it, and how they used it to place themselves and others within social hierarchies is a highly useful way to understand the ongoing negotiation between equality and difference. In public documents, “difference” overwhelmed “equality,” because the formal exclusion of women from political activity and from economic parity required justification. The book tracks the ways in which this public disparity took hold in private communications. By the 1830s, separate and gendered spheres were firmly in place. This was the social and political heritage with which women's rights activists would contend for the rest of the century.Less
This book narrates a story about how a generation of young women who enjoyed access to new educational opportunities made sense of their individual and social identities in an American nation marked by stark political inequality between the sexes. The book reviews educated women's experiences with particular life stages and relationship arcs: friendship, family, courtship, marriage, and motherhood. In their personal and social relationships, educated women attempted to live as the “mere equals” of men. Their often frustrated efforts reveal how early national Americans grappled with the competing issues of women's intellectual equality and sexual difference. In the new nation, a pioneering society, pushing westward and unmooring itself from established institutions, often enlisted women's labor outside the home and in areas that we would deem public. Yet, as a matter of law, women lacked most rights of citizenship and this subordination was authorized by an ideology of sexual difference. What women and men said about education, how they valued it, and how they used it to place themselves and others within social hierarchies is a highly useful way to understand the ongoing negotiation between equality and difference. In public documents, “difference” overwhelmed “equality,” because the formal exclusion of women from political activity and from economic parity required justification. The book tracks the ways in which this public disparity took hold in private communications. By the 1830s, separate and gendered spheres were firmly in place. This was the social and political heritage with which women's rights activists would contend for the rest of the century.
Tom Cutterham
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691172668
- eISBN:
- 9781400885213
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691172668.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
In the years between the Revolutionary War and the drafting of the Constitution, American gentlemen—the merchants, lawyers, planters, and landowners who comprised the independent republic's ...
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In the years between the Revolutionary War and the drafting of the Constitution, American gentlemen—the merchants, lawyers, planters, and landowners who comprised the independent republic's elite—worked hard to maintain their positions of power. This book shows how their struggles over status, hierarchy, property, and control shaped the ideologies and institutions of the fledgling nation. The book examines how, facing pressure from populist movements as well as the threat of foreign empires, these gentlemen argued among themselves to find new ways of justifying economic and political inequality in a republican society. At the heart of their ideology was a regime of property and contract rights derived from the norms of international commerce and eighteenth-century jurisprudence. But these gentlemen were not concerned with property alone. They also sought personal prestige and cultural preeminence. The book describes how, painting the egalitarian freedom of the republic's “lower sort” as dangerous licentiousness, they constructed a vision of proper social order around their own fantasies of power and justice. In pamphlets, speeches, letters, and poetry, they argued that the survival of the republican experiment in the United States depended on the leadership of worthy gentlemen and the obedience of everyone else. The book demonstrates how these elites, far from giving up their attachment to gentility and privilege, recast the new republic in their own image.Less
In the years between the Revolutionary War and the drafting of the Constitution, American gentlemen—the merchants, lawyers, planters, and landowners who comprised the independent republic's elite—worked hard to maintain their positions of power. This book shows how their struggles over status, hierarchy, property, and control shaped the ideologies and institutions of the fledgling nation. The book examines how, facing pressure from populist movements as well as the threat of foreign empires, these gentlemen argued among themselves to find new ways of justifying economic and political inequality in a republican society. At the heart of their ideology was a regime of property and contract rights derived from the norms of international commerce and eighteenth-century jurisprudence. But these gentlemen were not concerned with property alone. They also sought personal prestige and cultural preeminence. The book describes how, painting the egalitarian freedom of the republic's “lower sort” as dangerous licentiousness, they constructed a vision of proper social order around their own fantasies of power and justice. In pamphlets, speeches, letters, and poetry, they argued that the survival of the republican experiment in the United States depended on the leadership of worthy gentlemen and the obedience of everyone else. The book demonstrates how these elites, far from giving up their attachment to gentility and privilege, recast the new republic in their own image.
Jason Beckfield
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- March 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190494254
- eISBN:
- 9780190494292
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190494254.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility, Economic Sociology
This chapter describes how the resources generated by the integrated European economy have been distributed as social rights of citizenship. As the European economy has developed, have European ...
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This chapter describes how the resources generated by the integrated European economy have been distributed as social rights of citizenship. As the European economy has developed, have European welfare states expanded, stabilized, or retrenched? These trends and effects matter because they reveal the changing structure of political inequality in Europe, and because the European welfare state has a strong effect on the distribution of income across European households. The first part of the chapter addresses the question of whether the development of the integrated European economy contributed to expansion of the social rights of citizenship, which would be a sign of reduced political inequality within European nations. The second part addresses the subject of political inequality in Europe as an integrating whole more directly by engaging with the convergence debate: with respect to citizenship rights, does it now matter more or less which national political economy one inhabits?Less
This chapter describes how the resources generated by the integrated European economy have been distributed as social rights of citizenship. As the European economy has developed, have European welfare states expanded, stabilized, or retrenched? These trends and effects matter because they reveal the changing structure of political inequality in Europe, and because the European welfare state has a strong effect on the distribution of income across European households. The first part of the chapter addresses the question of whether the development of the integrated European economy contributed to expansion of the social rights of citizenship, which would be a sign of reduced political inequality within European nations. The second part addresses the subject of political inequality in Europe as an integrating whole more directly by engaging with the convergence debate: with respect to citizenship rights, does it now matter more or less which national political economy one inhabits?
Allen Buchanan, Tony Cole, and Robert O. Keohane
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780195379907
- eISBN:
- 9780190267711
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780195379907.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter proposes an international regulating body for the purposes of eliminating the problem of diffusion of innovation. Patent laws, intellectual property rights, monopolies, among other ...
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This chapter proposes an international regulating body for the purposes of eliminating the problem of diffusion of innovation. Patent laws, intellectual property rights, monopolies, among other things, exacerbate political and economic inequalities by withholding access of innovations to those who need it. A major branch of concern is the distribution of pharmaceuticals. In order to maintain distributive justice and reduce the global burden of disease, a Global Institute for Justice in Innovation can be established to encourage rapid diffusion of innovations and discourage firms that restrict access to them.Less
This chapter proposes an international regulating body for the purposes of eliminating the problem of diffusion of innovation. Patent laws, intellectual property rights, monopolies, among other things, exacerbate political and economic inequalities by withholding access of innovations to those who need it. A major branch of concern is the distribution of pharmaceuticals. In order to maintain distributive justice and reduce the global burden of disease, a Global Institute for Justice in Innovation can be established to encourage rapid diffusion of innovations and discourage firms that restrict access to them.
Prakash Kashwan
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- February 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190637385
- eISBN:
- 9780190637415
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190637385.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Environmental Politics
This chapter develops a political economy of institutions framework, which facilitates a cross-national, inter-temporal, and cross-scale analysis of the processes and outcomes of institutional change ...
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This chapter develops a political economy of institutions framework, which facilitates a cross-national, inter-temporal, and cross-scale analysis of the processes and outcomes of institutional change related to the recognition of forest and land rights in the forested regions of India, Mexico, and Tanzania. It also introduces the unique features of the problem of forestland conflicts around the world, which makes it a suitable topic for a political analysis of the different ways that societies seek to resolve the apparent tensions between the goals of social justice and environmental conservation in the hinterlands. This analysis fuses together theoretical insights from the fields of comparative politics, institutional analysis, development studies, and policy studies to identify gaps that are relevant to contemporary debates about the politics and policies at the intersection of environment, economic development, and inequality—especially in the context of emerging climate change mitigation and adaptation programs.Less
This chapter develops a political economy of institutions framework, which facilitates a cross-national, inter-temporal, and cross-scale analysis of the processes and outcomes of institutional change related to the recognition of forest and land rights in the forested regions of India, Mexico, and Tanzania. It also introduces the unique features of the problem of forestland conflicts around the world, which makes it a suitable topic for a political analysis of the different ways that societies seek to resolve the apparent tensions between the goals of social justice and environmental conservation in the hinterlands. This analysis fuses together theoretical insights from the fields of comparative politics, institutional analysis, development studies, and policy studies to identify gaps that are relevant to contemporary debates about the politics and policies at the intersection of environment, economic development, and inequality—especially in the context of emerging climate change mitigation and adaptation programs.
