Document Type
Poster Session
Department
Economics
Faculty Mentor
Michael Cauvel, Ph.D.
Keywords
Inequality, political activity, class consciousness, voter turnout, democracy, participation, policy, polarization, dissonance
Abstract
Since 1980, the United States has experienced stagnating wages, higher levels of inequality, and intensifying political polarization. Despite this, U.S. domestic economic policy has not undergone the fundamental transformation needed to combat these systemic challenges. Why have these policies remained in place when they have a negative impact on the aggregate working class, and why has the working class not used American Democracy to change these policies? Could it be that the rising inequality has led to reduced political engagement with the remaining voters being more devout participants to their ideology than effective policy? Although there is an abundance of literature which has sought to integrate the theory of class consciousness by using it to explain behavior, few have sought to quantify its presence through the use of applied data. This study analyzes panel data from a number of developed countries, using data from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP), the World Inequality Database (WID) and the International Institute for Electoral Democracy and Electoral Assistance to conduct regression analysis in order to determine whether there is a relationship between inequality, class consciousness, and political activity in the United States, with inequality acting as the primary independent variable.
Included in
Behavioral Economics Commons, Economic Theory Commons, International Economics Commons, Macroeconomics Commons, Political Economy Commons
Assessing the Impact of Inequality on Political Activity and Class Consciousness
Since 1980, the United States has experienced stagnating wages, higher levels of inequality, and intensifying political polarization. Despite this, U.S. domestic economic policy has not undergone the fundamental transformation needed to combat these systemic challenges. Why have these policies remained in place when they have a negative impact on the aggregate working class, and why has the working class not used American Democracy to change these policies? Could it be that the rising inequality has led to reduced political engagement with the remaining voters being more devout participants to their ideology than effective policy? Although there is an abundance of literature which has sought to integrate the theory of class consciousness by using it to explain behavior, few have sought to quantify its presence through the use of applied data. This study analyzes panel data from a number of developed countries, using data from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP), the World Inequality Database (WID) and the International Institute for Electoral Democracy and Electoral Assistance to conduct regression analysis in order to determine whether there is a relationship between inequality, class consciousness, and political activity in the United States, with inequality acting as the primary independent variable.
