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Title: The Structure of Inequality and Its Effects on Redistribution in the U.S. States

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2014

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Abstract: The increasing prominence of income inequality as a concern in American political discourse and in voting patterns leads some to conclude that income inequality has supplanted traditional race and class cleavages as the country’s main political fault-line. That conclusion, we argue, misses the importance of the “structure” of inequality; i.e., the extent to which it reflects disparities between racial groups or inequities among individuals who comprise the groups. Accordingly, we first decompose income inequality nationally and in each state between 1980 and 2010 into race and class components using the Theil Index (a measure seldom used in political science research). We show that racial and class inequality account for a greater share of total inequality in 2010 than they did in 1980. We then demonstrate that between-race inequality affects state welfare policy whereas total inequality, between-class inequality, and the racial composition of the population per se do not; furthermore, political variables often examined in state policy research also show no impact. These results re-affirm and clarify the nature as well as the persistent and fundamental importance of race and of class in U.S. society and its politics and policies In sum, while economic inequality is large and has grown, it apparently has negligible impact on states’ welfare policy decisions; on the other hand, enduring racial inequality clearly and consistently diminishes support for redistribution.

Url: http://aprg.web.unc.edu/files/2011/08/Hero_Levy_APRG.pdf

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Authors: Hero, Rodney, E; Levy, Morris, E

Publisher: University of California, Berkeley

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Other

Countries: United States