Political equality: what is it and why does it matter?

• Published in: Oxford Open Economics 2024-07, Vol.3 (Supplement_1), p.i262-i281
• Main Authors: Beramendi, Pablo, Besley, Timothy, Levi, Margaret
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2752-5074; 2752-5074
• DOI: 10.1093/ooec/odad055

Political inequality is a distinctive type of inequality, which cannot be reduced to economic or power inequalities. The article frames political equality as trying to achieve ‘equal consideration’ among members of a polity, arguing that assessing whether this is achieved requires looking at process as well as outcomes. The analysis focuses on two core dimensions that can be studied empirically: patterns of political participation and political representation. Studying these reinforces the idea that, even in advanced democracies, politics is an elite activity concentrated among the educated and those with material and ideological resources. The article discusses the consequences of political inequality framed as equal consideration and a range of reforms that have been proposed to reduce it. ‘[…] no society can genuinely humanize its institutions save as it becomes a community of equals.’ (Laski 1928, p. 31)