Political Inequality

Inequality in political participation and influence has strongly increased in recent decades, breeding economic inequality. In this review, we focus on three aspects of political inequality: the increasing concentration of both political and charitable donations, the growing gap in descriptive repre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of economics 2024-08, Vol.16 (1), p.455-490
Main Author: Cagé, Julia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
campaign finance
charitable giving
descriptive representation
economic inequality
Inequality
JEL D72
JEL J15
JEL L38
JEL N3
political donations
political inequality
Political participation
Representation
representative democracies
substantive representation
turnout
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Summary:Inequality in political participation and influence has strongly increased in recent decades, breeding economic inequality. In this review, we focus on three aspects of political inequality: the increasing concentration of both political and charitable donations, the growing gap in descriptive representation, and the persistent lack of substantive representation. Based on the existing literature as well as on novel evidence, we relate these aspects to the recent widening of turnout inequality. We then examine novel forms of participation—e.g., the rise of small donors in the United States—and the efficiency of policies aimed at improving representation. Finally, we discuss new avenues for research.
ISSN:1941-1383
1941-1391
DOI:10.1146/annurev-economics-080223-040921