Social Inequality & The Politics of Representation

Social Inequality & The Politics of Representation PDF Author: Celine-Marie Pascale
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1452289697
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
In a global landscape, the representational practices through which inequalities gain meaning are central- both within and across national boundaries. Social Inequality & The Politics of Representation takes a fresh look at how inequalities of class, race, sexuality, gender, and nation are constructed in twenty countries on five continents. It offers both rich insight and cultural critique- yet it does not offer a universal paradigm, nor is it concerned with debates about scholarship from "the center" or "the periphery". The collection de-centers North American/European paradigms by placing scholarship from countries around the globe on equal footing. Readers will find a variety of analytical styles including frame analysis, semiotics, poststructural discourse analysis, critical discourse studies, and conversation analysis. Each chapter provides an overview of relevant cultural and historical contexts for an international audience as well as a brief introduction to relevant methodological and theoretical frameworks. Consequently, it is both a richly diverse and easily accessible collection.

Democracy, Inequality, and Representation in Comparative Perspective

Democracy, Inequality, and Representation in Comparative Perspective PDF Author: Pablo Beramendi
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN: 1610440447
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 447

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Book Description
The gap between the richest and poorest Americans has grown steadily over the last thirty years, and economic inequality is on the rise in many other industrialized democracies as well. But the magnitude and pace of the increase differs dramatically across nations. A country's political system and its institutions play a critical role in determining levels of inequality in a society. Democracy, Inequality, and Representation argues that the reverse is also true—inequality itself shapes political systems and institutions in powerful and often overlooked ways. In Democracy, Inequality, and Representation, distinguished political scientists and economists use a set of international databases to examine the political causes and consequences of income inequality. The volume opens with an examination of how differing systems of political representation contribute to cross-national variations in levels of inequality. Torben Iverson and David Soskice calculate that taxes and income transfers help reduce the poverty rate in Sweden by over 80 percent, while the comparable figure for the United States is only 13 percent. Noting that traditional economic models fail to account for this striking discrepancy, the authors show how variations in electoral systems lead to very different outcomes. But political causes of disparity are only one part of the equation. The contributors also examine how inequality shapes the democratic process. Pablo Beramendi and Christopher Anderson show how disparity mutes political voices: at the individual level, citizens with the lowest incomes are the least likely to vote, while high levels of inequality in a society result in diminished electoral participation overall. Thomas Cusack, Iverson, and Philipp Rehm demonstrate that uncertainty in the economy changes voters' attitudes; the mere risk of losing one's job generates increased popular demand for income support policies almost as much as actual unemployment does. Ronald Rogowski and Duncan McRae illustrate how changes in levels of inequality can drive reforms in political institutions themselves. Increased demand for female labor participation during World War II led to greater equality between men and women, which in turn encouraged many European countries to extend voting rights to women for the first time. The contributors to this important new volume skillfully disentangle a series of complex relationships between economics and politics to show how inequality both shapes and is shaped by policy. Democracy, Inequality, and Representation provides deeply nuanced insight into why some democracies are able to curtail inequality—while others continue to witness a division that grows ever deeper.

Hometown Inequality

Hometown Inequality PDF Author: Brian F. Schaffner
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108659888
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
Local governments play a central role in American democracy, providing essential services such as policing, water, and sanitation. Moreover, Americans express great confidence in their municipal governments. But is this confidence warranted? Using big data and a representative sample of American communities, this book provides the first systematic examination of racial and class inequalities in local politics. We find that non-whites and less-affluent residents are consistent losers in local democracy. Residents of color and those with lower incomes receive less representation from local elected officials than do whites and the affluent. Additionally, they are much less likely than privileged community members to have their preferences reflected in local government policy. Contrary to the popular assumption that governments that are “closest” govern best, we find that inequalities in representation are most severe in suburbs and small towns. Typical reforms do not seem to improve the situation, and we recommend new approaches.

Social Inequality & The Politics of Representation

Social Inequality & The Politics of Representation PDF Author: Celine-Marie Pascale
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1452289697
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
In a global landscape, the representational practices through which inequalities gain meaning are central- both within and across national boundaries. Social Inequality & The Politics of Representation takes a fresh look at how inequalities of class, race, sexuality, gender, and nation are constructed in twenty countries on five continents. It offers both rich insight and cultural critique- yet it does not offer a universal paradigm, nor is it concerned with debates about scholarship from "the center" or "the periphery". The collection de-centers North American/European paradigms by placing scholarship from countries around the globe on equal footing. Readers will find a variety of analytical styles including frame analysis, semiotics, poststructural discourse analysis, critical discourse studies, and conversation analysis. Each chapter provides an overview of relevant cultural and historical contexts for an international audience as well as a brief introduction to relevant methodological and theoretical frameworks. Consequently, it is both a richly diverse and easily accessible collection.

Who Gets Represented?

Who Gets Represented? PDF Author: Peter K. Enns
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN: 1610447220
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
An investigation of policy preferences in the U.S. and how group opinion affects political representation. While it is often assumed that policymakers favor the interests of some citizens at the expense of others, it is not always evident when and how groups' interests differ or what it means when they do. Who Gets Represented? challenges the usual assumption that the preferences of any one group—women, African Americans, or the middle class—are incompatible with the preferences of other groups. The book analyzes differences across income, education, racial, and partisan groups and investigates whether and how differences in group opinion matter with regard to political representation. Part I examines opinions among social and racial groups. Relying on an innovative matching technique, contributors Marisa Abrajano and Keith Poole link respondents in different surveys to show that racial and ethnic groups do not, as previously thought, predictably embrace similar attitudes about social welfare. Katherine Cramer Walsh finds that, although preferences on health care policy and government intervention are often surprisingly similar across class lines, different income groups can maintain the same policy preferences for different reasons. Part II turns to how group interests translate into policy outcomes, with a focus on differences in representation between income groups. James Druckman and Lawrence Jacobs analyze Ronald Reagan's response to private polling data during his presidency and show how different electorally significant groups—Republicans, the wealthy, religious conservatives—wielded disproportionate influence on Reagan's policy positions. Christopher Wlezien and Stuart Soroka show that politicians' responsiveness to the preferences of constituents within different income groups can be surprisingly even-handed. Analyzing data from 1876 to the present, Wesley Hussey and John Zaller focus on the important role of political parties, vis-à-vis constituents' preferences, for legislators' behavior. Who Gets Represented? upends several long-held assumptions, among them the growing conventional wisdom that income plays in American politics and the assumption that certain groups will always—or will never—have common interests. Similarities among group opinions are as significant as differences for understanding political representation. Who Gets Represented? offers important and surprising answers to the question it raises.

The Great Gap

The Great Gap PDF Author: Merike Blofield
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271050098
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 418

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Book Description
"A collection of essays addressing the relationship between inequality and politics in Latin America. Examines the socioeconomic context and inequality of opportunities; elite culture, public opinion, and media framing; capital mobility, campaign financing, representation and gender equality policies; and taxation and social policies"--Provided by publisher.

Putting Inequality in Context

Putting Inequality in Context PDF Author: Christopher Ellis
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472130498
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Highlights the role of contextual factors, including class, in U.S. political inequality

Social Inequality & The Politics of Representation

Social Inequality & The Politics of Representation PDF Author: Celine-Marie Pascale
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1412992214
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
This anthology critically analyzes how cultures around the world make social categories of race, class, gender and sexuality meaningful in particular ways. The collection uses a wide range of readings to examine how contemporary issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality are constructed, mobilized, and transformed. Unlike many books in this area, the U.S. is not analytical center.

Poor Representation

Poor Representation PDF Author: Kristina C. Miler
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108473504
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
The poor are grossly underrepresented in Congress both overall and by individual legislators, even those who represent high-poverty districts.

The Politics of Income Inequality in the United States

The Politics of Income Inequality in the United States PDF Author: Nathan J. Kelly
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521514584
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
Using income surveys and various political-economic data, this book shows that income inequality is fundamental to the dynamics of US politics.

Political Cleavages and Social Inequalities

Political Cleavages and Social Inequalities PDF Author: Amory Gethin
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674248422
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 657

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Book Description
The empirical starting point for anyone who wants to understand political cleavages in the democratic world, based on a unique dataset covering fifty countries since WWII. Who votes for whom and why? Why has growing inequality in many parts of the world not led to renewed class-based conflicts, seeming instead to have come with the emergence of new divides over identity and integration? News analysts, scholars, and citizens interested in exploring those questions inevitably lack relevant data, in particular the kinds of data that establish historical and international context. Political Cleavages and Social Inequalities provides the missing empirical background, collecting and examining a treasure trove of information on the dynamics of polarization in modern democracies. The chapters draw on a unique set of surveys conducted between 1948 and 2020 in fifty countries on five continents, analyzing the links between votersÕ political preferences and socioeconomic characteristics, such as income, education, wealth, occupation, religion, ethnicity, age, and gender. This analysis sheds new light on how political movements succeed in coalescing multiple interests and identities in contemporary democracies. It also helps us understand the conditions under which conflicts over inequality become politically salient, as well as the similarities and constraints of voters supporting ethnonationalist politicians like Narendra Modi, Jair Bolsonaro, Marine Le Pen, and Donald Trump. Bringing together cutting-edge data and historical analysis, editors Amory Gethin, Clara Mart’nez-Toledano, and Thomas Piketty offer a vital resource for understanding the voting patterns of the present and the likely sources of future political conflict.