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Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy Of The New Gilded Age (2008)

by Larry M. Bartels(Favorite Author)

3.83 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0691136637 (ISBN13: 9780691136639)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Princeton University Press

review 1: Great glimpse at the quandary that extreme capitalism brings to the democratic process. T As the author wrote, "...scientists since Aristotle have wrestled with the question of whether substantial economic inequality is compatible with democracy..." Bartels fills his book with facts, statistics, charts all enumerating the unparalleled economic disparity of modern America and goes on to show studies that look at the psychology of why more people aren't up in arms at this fact.This is a fascinating book that should compel more of us to be outraged and to show it in the voting booths.Interesting quotes:"Meanwhile, the political process has evolved in ways that seem likely to reinforce the advantages of wealth. Political campaigns have become dramatically more expensive since ... morethe 1950's, increasing the reliance of elected officials on people who can afford to help finance their bids for reelection. Lobbying activities by corporations and business and professional organizations have accelerated greatly, outpacing the growth of public interest groups.Membership in labor unions have declined substantially, eroding the primary mechanism for organized representation of working people in the governmental process.""The real value of the minimum wage has declined by more than 40% since the late 1960's, despite remarkably strong and consistent public support for minimum wage increases.""For example, while the real income of taxpayers at the 99th percentile doubled between 1981 and 2005, the real income of taxpayers at the 99.9th percentile nearly tripled, and the real income of taxpayers at the 99.99th percentile - a hyper-rich stratum comprising of about 13,000 taxpayers - increased fivefold.""In 2005, the New York Times published a 20-year retrospective on the list of the 400 wealthiest Americans produced annually by Forbes magazine. The Times noted that the average net worth of these 400 economic luminaries increased more than fourfold over that period (from $600 million in 1985 to $2.81 billion in 2005) and that their combined net wealth in 2005 exceeded the gross domestic product of Canada. The median household income of Americans has been stuck at around $44,000 for five years now. The poverty rate is up.Members of the Forbes 400, meanwhile, are richer than Croesus and every hour are getting richer.""Although it is common for Americans to suppose that the nation's collective wealth makes even poor people better off than they otherwise would be, the reality is that poor people in America seem to be distinctly less well off than poor people in countries that are less wealthy but less unequal. A careful comparison of the living standards of poor children in 13 rich democracies in the 1990's found the United States ranking next to last......worry that inequality itself may have deleterious social implications in the realms of family and community life, health and education.""Middle-class America didn't emerge by accident. It was created by what has been called the Great Compression of incomes that took place during World Wat II and sustained for a generation by social norms that favored equality, strong labor unions, and progressive taxation. Since the 1970's, all of those sustaining forces have lost their power. Since 1980 in particular, U.S.government policies have consistently favored the wealthy at the expense of working families - and under the current (George W. Bush) administration, that favoritism has become extreme and relentless. From tax cuts that favor the rich to bankruptcy 'reform' that punishes the unlucky, almost every domestic policy seems intended to accelerate our march back to the robber baron era."and with an election coming up, here's food for thought:"On average, the real incomes of middle-class families have grown twice as fast under Democrats as they have under Republicans, while the real incomes of working poor families have grown six times as fast under Democrats as they have under Republicans. These substantial partisan differences persist even after allowing for differences in economic circumstances and historical trends beyond the control of individual presidents. They suggest that escalating inequality is not simply an inevitable economic trend - and that a great deal of economic inequality in the contemporary United States is specifically attributable to the policies and priorities of Republican presidents."
review 2: This is political scientist Larry Bartels' statistical look at the growing income inequality in America and the effects income has on American politics (and vice versa). He uses data and regression analysis to show that income inequality grows during Republican presidencies and rich people have more influence on how representatives vote. Wow, really Captain Obvious? It took you six years and 300 pages to figure that out? It is rumored that in his next book, Bartels will use deep statistical analysis to prove that the sun rises in the morning and fat people eat more than skinny people.In all seriousness, while some of the results are obvious, the statistics behind them are interesting as well as some of the factors leading to those results. Most interestingly, Bartels does his best to approach the data and results in a non-biased and factual manner. He claims not to have voted in an election since 1984 when he voted for Reagan, so he's not a left wing nut, though his findings in the book have clearly swung his political views to the left. In the end, one is left wondering why anyone would ever vote Republican if economics are their main concern since all levels of income earners do better under Democratic presidents and six of the last seven recessions have happened under Republican presidents. Bartels attempts to show why these seemingly nonsensical and non-constituent maximizing political results happen by highlighting the effects of information asymmetry, economic standing, short sightedness of voters, and party line voting. He examines seemingly incongruous results through real world data and examples such as the minimum wage and estate tax.Independents and Republicans should read this book as it is not a polemic and is as reasoned as a conclusion making political book can be. Data doesn't lie, nor do statistics, despite what Mark Twain opined. less

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