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Politics and Inequality in Comparative Perspective : A Research Agenda

López, Matias LU and Dubrow, Joshua K. (2020) In American Behavioral Scientist 64(9). p.1199-1210
Abstract

Democracy’s normative foundation is political equality. Yet the dominance of the elite over the masses, and the systematic exclusion of particular social and economic groups from the influence on, and outcomes of, important decisions, manifests in political inequality. If this situation is normatively intolerable, why does political inequality endure? We build on the theoretical and empirical literature of politics and inequality and the collection of articles in this special issue to argue that the reproduction of political inequality within and across nations and time results from two key interrelated mechanisms: elite coordination and mass discoordination. We discuss how these mechanisms shape patterns of contestation and... (More)

Democracy’s normative foundation is political equality. Yet the dominance of the elite over the masses, and the systematic exclusion of particular social and economic groups from the influence on, and outcomes of, important decisions, manifests in political inequality. If this situation is normatively intolerable, why does political inequality endure? We build on the theoretical and empirical literature of politics and inequality and the collection of articles in this special issue to argue that the reproduction of political inequality within and across nations and time results from two key interrelated mechanisms: elite coordination and mass discoordination. We discuss how these mechanisms shape patterns of contestation and participation that reproduce inequalities in both old and new democracies.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
democracy, elites, Europe, inequality, Latin America, participation, political inequality
in
American Behavioral Scientist
volume
64
issue
9
pages
12 pages
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:85088447523
ISSN
0002-7642
DOI
10.1177/0002764220941234
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6e60f2ce-ce6e-48a9-82bd-4582d312947c
date added to LUP
2020-08-06 10:51:21
date last changed
2022-04-19 00:02:38
@article{6e60f2ce-ce6e-48a9-82bd-4582d312947c,
  abstract     = {{<p>Democracy’s normative foundation is political equality. Yet the dominance of the elite over the masses, and the systematic exclusion of particular social and economic groups from the influence on, and outcomes of, important decisions, manifests in political inequality. If this situation is normatively intolerable, why does political inequality endure? We build on the theoretical and empirical literature of politics and inequality and the collection of articles in this special issue to argue that the reproduction of political inequality within and across nations and time results from two key interrelated mechanisms: elite coordination and mass discoordination. We discuss how these mechanisms shape patterns of contestation and participation that reproduce inequalities in both old and new democracies.</p>}},
  author       = {{López, Matias and Dubrow, Joshua K.}},
  issn         = {{0002-7642}},
  keywords     = {{democracy; elites; Europe; inequality; Latin America; participation; political inequality}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  number       = {{9}},
  pages        = {{1199--1210}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{American Behavioral Scientist}},
  title        = {{Politics and Inequality in Comparative Perspective : A Research Agenda}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0002764220941234}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/0002764220941234}},
  volume       = {{64}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}