Awards

• Winner of Gladys M. Kammerer Award, American Political Science Association 2009 (United States)
• Winner of Leon D. Epstein Outstanding Book Award, Political Organizations and Parties Section, American Political Science Association 2009 (United States)

Overview

"An acclaimed examination of how the American political system favors the wealthy-now fully revised and expandedThe first edition of Unequal Democracy was an instant classic, shattering illusions about American democracy and spurring scholarly and popular interest in the political causes and consequences of escalating economic inequality. This revised, updated, and expanded second edition includes two new chapters on the political economy of the Obama era. One presents the Great Recession as a ""stress test"" of the American political system by analyzing the 2008 election and the impact of Barack Obama's ""New New Deal"" on the economic fortunes of the rich, middle class, and poor. The other assesses the politics of inequality in the wake of the Occupy Wall Street movement, the 2012 election, and the partisan gridlock of Obama's second term. Larry Bartels offers a sobering account of the barriers to change posed by partisan ideologies and the political power of the wealthy. He also provides new analyses of tax policy, partisan differences in economic performance, the struggle to raise the minimum wage, and inequalities in congressional representation.President Obama identified inequality as ""the defining challenge of our time."" Unequal Democracy is the definitive account of how and why our political system has failed to rise to that challenge. Now more than ever, this is a book every American needs to read."

Full Product Details

9780691181073

Table of Contents

Reviews

Praise for the first edition: Unequal Democracy is the sort of book to which every political scientist should aspire. . . . Bartels's perplexing and often unexpected discoveries should help refocus the gathering public debate about inequality and what to do about it. --Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone Praise for the first edition: Provocative. --Dan Balz, Washington Post Praise for the first edition: The non-partisan and non-political Bartels points out devastatingly after an exhaustive study of Democratic and Republican presidents that the Democrats built a better economy and a more just society. --James Carville, CNN Praise for the first edition: [I recommend] Larry M. Bartels's Unequal Democracy. Especially at this time every thoughtful American needs to learn as much as possible about the relationship of politics to economics. --Bill Clinton, Daily Beast Larry Bartels's Unequal Democracy is a major landmark in political scientists' efforts to grapple with inequality. . . . Bartels has done so much, and has done it so well, that anyone who quibbles with his interpretations or suggests that he has left important questions unanswered is likely to seem ungenerous, even churlish. . . . Unequal Democracy should be taken as a major contribution and as a touchstone for further research. --Benjamin I. Page, Perspectives on Politics For a book targeted at both academic and nonacademic audiences, Bartels strikes a nice balance between exhaustive empirical rigor and accessibility. . . . Bartels gives us a wide-ranging framework for thinking about the ways that citizens interact with the political system, and in so doing maps an agenda for the next generation of research on American democracy in action. --Nicholas J. G. Winter, Public Opinion Quarterly The book is exemplary throughout in its transparency with regard to the data and Bartels's analytic strategy for using them, in its attention to alternative explanations for a given outcome, and in its balance between not over-reaching and asserting a clear, controversial, and important thesis. . . . Full of evidence, insights, and surprises. . . . The book is never less than provocative and is often revelatory. --Jennifer Hochschild, Perspectives on Politics Prodigiously researched and cogently argued, Bartels's timely work should interest academics and lay readers alike. --Blake A. Ellis, Journal of Southern History [Bartels] is correct in drawing attention to the tension between the egalitarian values that Americans hold and their apparent toleration for growing economic inequality. And at every step of the argument, he defines and analyzes interesting and relevant evidence. --Richard R. John, Forum Unequal Democracy makes the choice voters face clear: Democratic policies spread the wealth and Republican policies protect the wealthy. --Julian E. Zelizer, The Huffington Post [E]xtraordinarily insightful. --Bob Braun, Newark Star-Ledger [A] provocative new book by Princeton professor Larry M. Bartels, one of the country's leading political scientists. One of Bartels's most intriguing conclusions is that the political timing of economic growth has influenced voters. Republican presidents...have often generated significant economic growth rates in presidential election years, while Democratic presidents have not. --Dan Balz, Washington Post A short review cannot convey the rich variety of arguments and data Bartels deploys in making his case. Some of his analysis focuses on broadly characterized partisan differences, some on high profile examples such as the politics of the minimum wage and the estate tax. He will have done a considerable service if the next time we start thinking about economics we also think about politics. Bartels shows that social issues do not create as strong a headwind against class-based voting as is often assumed and that lower income voters do tend to vote Democratic while upper-income voters do tend to vote Republican. Unequal Democracy offers an important case for why this might be. --Robert Grafstein, Science A provocative new book by Princeton professor Larry M. Bartels, one of the country's leading political scientists. --Dan Balz, Washington Post Bartels is the political scientist of the moment. Along with Obama, Bill Clinton also read and recommends Unequal Democracy. [M]ost people on the street could have told Bartels that the working poor fare better under Democrats . . . but the importance of these and some other findings in the book . . . is that they use scholarly methods to provide political explanations for economic problems. --Michael Tomasky, New York Review of Books Many Americans know that there are characteristic policy differences between the [Republican and Democratic] parties. But few are aware of two important facts about the post-World War II era, both of which are brilliantly delineated in a new book, Unequal Democracy, by Larry M. Bartels, a professor of political science at Princeton. Understanding them might help voters see what could be at stake, economically speaking, in November. --Alan Blinder, New York Times Obama can connect with voters on the economy by using history as a guideline. He should start by reading Unequal Democracy, by Princeton academic Larry Bartels. The non-partisan and non-political Bartels points out devastatingly after an exhaustive study of Democratic and Republican presidents that the Democrats built a better economy and a more just society. --James Carville, CNN [I recommend] Larry M. Bartels's Unequal Democracy. Especially at this time every thoughtful American needs to learn as much as possible about the relationship of politics to economics. --Bill Clinton, Daily Beast Winner of the 2009 Gladys M. Kammerer Award, American Political Science AssociationWinner of the 2009 Leon D. Epstein Outstanding Book Award, Political Organizations and Parties Section of the American Political Science Association

The book is exemplary throughout in its transparency with regard to the data and Bartels's analytic strategy for using them, in its attention to alternative explanations for a given outcome, and in its balance between not over-reaching and asserting a clear, controversial, and important thesis. . . . Full of evidence, insights, and surprises. . . . The book is never less than provocative and is often revelatory. ---Jennifer Hochschild, Perspectives on Politics Prodigiously researched and cogently argued, Bartels's timely work should interest academics and lay readers alike. ---Blake A. Ellis, Journal of Southern History Unequal Democracy is a major landmark in political scientists' efforts to grapple with inequality. ---Benjamin I. Page, Perspectives on Politics Obama can connect with voters on the economy by using history as a guideline. He should start by reading Unequal Democracy, by Princeton academic Larry Bartels. ---James Carville, CNN Bartels is the political scientist of the moment. ---Michael Tomasky, New York Review of Books [I recommend] Larry M. Bartels's Unequal Democracy. Especially at this time every thoughtful American needs to learn as much as possible about the relationship of politics to economics. ---Bill Clinton, Daily Beast Winner of the 2009 Leon D. Epstein Outstanding Book Award, Political Organizations and Parties Section of the American Political Science Association For a book targeted at both academic and nonacademic audiences, Bartels strikes a nice balance between exhaustive empirical rigor and accessibility. . . . Bartels gives us a wide-ranging framework for thinking about the ways that citizens interact with the political system, and in so doing maps an agenda for the next generation of research on American democracy in action. ---Nicholas J. G. Winter, Public Opinion Quarterly [Bartels] is correct in drawing attention to the tension between the egalitarian values that Americans hold and their apparent toleration for growing economic inequality. And at every step of the argument, he defines and analyzes interesting and relevant evidence. ---Richard R. John, Forum Extraordinarily insightful. ---Bob Braun, Newark Star-Ledger A short review cannot convey the rich variety of arguments and data Bartels deploys in making his case. . . . Bartels shows that social issues do not create as strong a headwind against class-based voting as is often assumed and that lower income voters do tend to vote Democratic while upper-income voters do tend to vote Republican. Unequal Democracy offers an important case for why this might be. ---Robert Grafstein, Science Unequal Democracy makes the choice voters face clear: Democratic policies spread the wealth and Republican policies protect the wealthy. ---Julian E. Zelizer, Huffington Post [A] provocative new book by . . . Larry M. Bartels, one of the country's leading political scientists. ---Dan Balz, Washington Post Winner of the 2009 Gladys M. Kammerer Award, American Political Science Association No political scientist is more widely or rightly respected than Larry Bartels, and Unequal Democracy is a brilliant book that only he could have written. The book proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the main fault for sizable socioeconomic inequalities in America lies not in our economy but in our increasingly polarized and partisan politics. With intellectual force, Unequal Democracy pulls back the sheets on Washington's pamper-the-rich policy process and offers ideas about how we can do better by average citizens and the poor. It is Bartels at his very best, and his very best is the best there is. --John J. DiIulio, Jr., University of Pennsylvania, former director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Unequal Democracy completes the story of why America's wealthy have become superrich. As Larry Bartels, one of the nation's top political scientists, convincingly demonstrates, the rich get richer when the Republicans are in power and when the less affluent fail to vote. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants answers to why so many of America's working- and middle-class families are struggling to get by. --Thomas E. Patterson, Harvard University This book suggests that economists are wrong and that the growing inequality in America is not the product of world forces but of Republican administrations during which income grows more slowly, inequality soars, and no one notices because they pump up the economy during election years. If you care about economic justice, you need to seriously examine the powerful data in this book and recognize that we can choose a better, fairer society. --Gary Orfield, University of California, Los Angeles Unequal Democracy is the sort of book to which every political scientist should aspire--it is methodologically rigorous, conceptually serious, and above all, it addresses urgent concerns of our fellow citizens. As Bartels shows, much of what we think we know about the politics of economic inequality is dead wrong. Bartels's perplexing and often unexpected discoveries should help refocus the gathering public debate about inequality and what to do about it. --Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone This is a fantastic book, a real tour de force. It is a hugely important study of increasing economic inequality in America and the failure of the political system to mitigate its effects on poor citizens. It is the best work that has been done on the political economy of income inequality. --Thomas Mann, Brookings Institution

For a book targeted at both academic and nonacademic audiences, Bartels strikes a nice balance between exhaustive empirical rigor and accessibility. . . . Bartels gives us a wide-ranging framework for thinking about the ways that citizens interact with the political system, and in so doing maps an agenda for the next generation of research on American democracy in action. ---Nicholas J. G. Winter, Public Opinion Quarterly The book is exemplary throughout in its transparency with regard to the data and Bartels's analytic strategy for using them, in its attention to alternative explanations for a given outcome, and in its balance between not over-reaching and asserting a clear, controversial, and important thesis. . . . Full of evidence, insights, and surprises. . . . The book is never less than provocative and is often revelatory. ---Jennifer Hochschild, Perspectives on Politics Prodigiously researched and cogently argued, Bartels's timely work should interest academics and lay readers alike. ---Blake A. Ellis, Journal of Southern History [Bartels] is correct in drawing attention to the tension between the egalitarian values that Americans hold and their apparent toleration for growing economic inequality. And at every step of the argument, he defines and analyzes interesting and relevant evidence. ---Richard R. John, Forum Unequal Democracy is a major landmark in political scientists' efforts to grapple with inequality. ---Benjamin I. Page, Perspectives on Politics Extraordinarily insightful. ---Bob Braun, Newark Star-Ledger Obama can connect with voters on the economy by using history as a guideline. He should start by reading Unequal Democracy, by Princeton academic Larry Bartels. ---James Carville, CNN A short review cannot convey the rich variety of arguments and data Bartels deploys in making his case. . . . Bartels shows that social issues do not create as strong a headwind against class-based voting as is often assumed and that lower income voters do tend to vote Democratic while upper-income voters do tend to vote Republican. Unequal Democracy offers an important case for why this might be. ---Robert Grafstein, Science Bartels is the political scientist of the moment. ---Michael Tomasky, New York Review of Books Unequal Democracy makes the choice voters face clear: Democratic policies spread the wealth and Republican policies protect the wealthy. ---Julian E. Zelizer, Huffington Post [A] provocative new book by . . . Larry M. Bartels, one of the country's leading political scientists. ---Dan Balz, Washington Post [I recommend] Larry M. Bartels's Unequal Democracy. Especially at this time every thoughtful American needs to learn as much as possible about the relationship of politics to economics. ---Bill Clinton, Daily Beast Winner of the 2009 Leon D. Epstein Outstanding Book Award, Political Organizations and Parties Section of the American Political Science Association Winner of the 2009 Gladys M. Kammerer Award, American Political Science Association No political scientist is more widely or rightly respected than Larry Bartels, and Unequal Democracy is a brilliant book that only he could have written. The book proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the main fault for sizable socioeconomic inequalities in America lies not in our economy but in our increasingly polarized and partisan politics. With intellectual force, Unequal Democracy pulls back the sheets on Washington's pamper-the-rich policy process and offers ideas about how we can do better by average citizens and the poor. It is Bartels at his very best, and his very best is the best there is. --John J. DiIulio, Jr., University of Pennsylvania, former director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Unequal Democracy completes the story of why America's wealthy have become superrich. As Larry Bartels, one of the nation's top political scientists, convincingly demonstrates, the rich get richer when the Republicans are in power and when the less affluent fail to vote. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants answers to why so many of America's working- and middle-class families are struggling to get by. --Thomas E. Patterson, Harvard University Unequal Democracy is the sort of book to which every political scientist should aspire--it is methodologically rigorous, conceptually serious, and above all, it addresses urgent concerns of our fellow citizens. As Bartels shows, much of what we think we know about the politics of economic inequality is dead wrong. Bartels's perplexing and often unexpected discoveries should help refocus the gathering public debate about inequality and what to do about it. --Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone This is a fantastic book, a real tour de force. It is a hugely important study of increasing economic inequality in America and the failure of the political system to mitigate its effects on poor citizens. It is the best work that has been done on the political economy of income inequality. --Thomas Mann, Brookings Institution This book suggests that economists are wrong and that the growing inequality in America is not the product of world forces but of Republican administrations during which income grows more slowly, inequality soars, and no one notices because they pump up the economy during election years. If you care about economic justice, you need to seriously examine the powerful data in this book and recognize that we can choose a better, fairer society. --Gary Orfield, University of California, Los Angeles

Author Information

Larry M. Bartels holds the May Werthan Shayne Chair of Public Policy and Social Science at Vanderbilt University. His books include Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government (with Christopher H. Achen) and Presidential Primaries and the Dynamics of Public Choice (both Princeton). He is a trustee of the Russell Sage Foundation, a fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.

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