Author Description

Contemporary American politics are driven by elite polarization and rising inequality. The 'state of the art' volume on inequality and American democracy succeeds admirably in linking rigorous scholarship to transcendently important questions about political participation and governmental responsiveness. By synthesizing and evaluating previous studies and outlining an agenda for future research, its superb contributors demonstrate brilliantly how political science, and social science more generally, can once again grapple with fundamental issues of democratic performance. Thomas E. Mann, W. Averell Harriman Chair and senior fellow, The Brookings Institution. Includes information on African Americans, age, campaign finance, civil rights, socioeconomic class, economic inequality, education, elections, gender, health care policy, housing, income inequality, labor unions, Latinos, participatory inequality, partisan differences, policy feedbacks, political action committees (PACS), political representation, political voice, public opinion, public policy, race/ethnicity, racial equality, redistributive policies and politics, responsiveness of government, social movements, social policy, Social Security, socioeconomic status, tax policy, voluntary associations, voting, Voting Rights Act of 1965, women, etc.