Political inequality: reasons for optimism?

• Published in: Oxford Open Economics 2024-07, Vol.3 (Supplement_1), p.i282-i290
• Main Author: Cagé, Julia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2752-5074; 2752-5074
• DOI: 10.1093/ooec/odad032

I comment on the article in this collection by Ansell and Gingrich, who highlight the concept of political inequality. Then they investigate empirically whether political inequality has risen in line with economic inequality over the past few decades in the UK. This is an important question, as political inequality can easily generate an inequality trap. I focus on the last dimension of political inequality that Ansell and Gingrich consider—who politicians are—and highlight that it is strongly linked to the first two: who votes and who they vote for. I first argue that the lack of political representativeness may at least partly explain the rise in abstention. I then highlight the role played by campaign finance regulations in explaining the relationship between political and economic inequalities. Finally, using the example of gender underrepresentation, I argue that shifting descriptive representation may have concrete policy consequences.