Unequal Democracies: Public Policy, Responsiveness, and Redistribution in an Era of Rising Economic Inequality

The book "Unequal Democracies" explores why democratic governments have not done more to distribute top-income shares to citizens with low- and middle-income, bringing together contributions from voters, elites, and unequal representation.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 350 pages
Publication date: 21 December 2023
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Economic inequality has surged in every affluent democracy in North America and Western Europe, but the last three decades have also seen declining or stagnating levels of state-led economic redistribution. Why have democratically accountable governments not done more to distribute top-income shares to citizens with low- and middle-income? Unequal Democracies provides answers to this question, bringing together contributions that focus on voters' demands for redistribution with those on elites and unequal representation that biases against less-affluent citizens. While extensive and growing research has emerged around each of these perspectives, this volume brings them into rare dialogue. Chapters also incorporate analyses that center exclusively on the United States and those that examine a broader set of advanced democracies to explore the uniqueness of the American case and its contribution to comparative perspectives. This book is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Economic inequality has surged in every affluent democracy in North America and Western Europe, but the last three decades have also seen declining or stagnating levels of state-led economic redistribution. Why have democratically accountable governments not done more to distribute top-income shares to citizens with low- and middle-income? Unequal Democracies provides answers to this question, bringing together contributions that focus on voters' demands for redistribution with those on elites and unequal representation that biases against less-affluent citizens. While extensive and growing research has emerged around each of these perspectives, this volume brings them into rare dialogue. Chapters also incorporate analyses that center exclusively on the United States and those that examine a broader set of advanced democracies to explore the uniqueness of the American case and its contribution to comparative perspectives. This book is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Economic inequality has surged in every affluent democracy in North America and Western Europe, but the last three decades have also seen declining or stagnating levels of state-led economic redistribution. Why have democratically accountable governments not done more to distribute top-income shares to citizens with low- and middle-income? Unequal Democracies provides answers to this question, bringing together contributions that focus on voters' demands for redistribution with those on elites and unequal representation that biases against less-affluent citizens. While extensive and growing research has emerged around each of these perspectives, this volume brings them into rare dialogue. Chapters also incorporate analyses that center exclusively on the United States and those that examine a broader set of advanced democracies to explore the uniqueness of the American case and its contribution to comparative perspectives. This book is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Weight: 572g
Dimension: 151 x 229 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781009428637