Political Inequality in an Age of Democracy: Cross-national Perspectives
Edited by Joshua Kjerulf Dubrow
Routledge – 2014 – 154 pages
Series: Routledge Advances in Sociology
Bibliographic Data for Chapter One: “The Concept and Study of Political Inequality”
Visit the webpage for the article, “Democracy and Equality in UK, USA and Canadian Newspapers, 1988 – 2013,” written exclusively for Routledge
About the Book
We live in an age of democracy. Modern nations have inscribed the ideals of democracy on their constitutions and similarly august documents. They contend that democracy is the key to unlock humanity’s great potential. People have fought and died for its ideals. Political equality is a foundation of democracy, a pillar on which humanity’s heights rest.
Yet, everywhere there is democracy, there is political inequality.
Political inequality – as both unequal influence over decisions made by political bodies and the unequal outcomes of those decisions – is felt most acutely by the disadvantaged who remain outsiders to the political system they help to legitimize and whose interests are chronically underrepresented. Governments at all levels are places where access to political power is constrained and where benefits are allocated unequally.
Political Inequality in an Age of Democracy: Cross-national Perspectives builds on previous work (e.g. APSA Task Force in 2004 on inequality and American democracy and Dahl’s On Political Equality of 2006) to address the present and future of the concept of political inequality from multi-disciplinary and cross-national perspectives. It is comprised of nine theoretical, methodological and empirical chapters. This path-creating edited collection contains original works by both established and young, up-and-coming social scientists, including those from Latin America, Eastern Europe, Greece and the U.S.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface — Joshua Kjerulf Dubrow
Introduction: Political Inequality in an Age of Democracy — Joshua Kjerulf Dubrow
Part I. Concepts and Theories of Political Inequality
Chapter 1: The Concept and Study of Political Inequality — Joshua Kjerulf Dubrow
Chapter 2: Inequality and Partial Democracy: South America in Comparative Perspective –Carlos Waisman
Chapter 3: Neoliberalism and Democracy — Alex Afouxenidis
Part II. Methodological Considerations
Chapter 4: Crossing Intersections: Overcoming the Challenges of Cross-National Research on the Legislative Representation of Women from Marginalized Groups — Melanie Hughes
Chapter 5: Are Imported Survey Questions Under-measuring Political and Gender Participation in the Global South (…and North)? — Solange Simoes
Part III. Empirical Analyses
Chapter 6: Political Capital and the Unequal Career Origins of the Political Elite in Chile — Alfredo Joignant, Lucas Perello, and Javier Torres
Chapter 7: Elite Perception of Inequality as a Threat to Democracy in Six Latin American Countries — Matias Lopez
Chapter 8: Social Class and Contentious Politics in Contemporary Europe — Henryk Domanski
Chapter 9: Xenophobia and Ethnic Discrimination — Irina Tomescu-Dubrow and Kazimierz M. Slomczynski
Conclusion: Lessons Learned – Joshua Kjerulf Dubrow