Democracy, Inequality, and Representation

Pablo Beramendi, Christopher Anderson (co-editors)

2011

Russell Sage Foundation

Democracy, Inequality, and Representation

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.