Affluence and Influence: Economic Inequality and Political Power in America
Winner of the 2013 Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award, American Political Science AssociationOne ofChoice's Outstanding Academic Titles Top 25 Academic Books for 2013"The best book in decades on political inequality. . . . Gilens's years of careful empirical research and his impressively fair and clear presentation of evidence mark a major step forward in the scientific study of political inequality in America."--Larry Bartels,Monkey Cage blog"[T]he findings in [Martin Gilens's book] are important, timely, and, at times, surprising."--Glenn C. Altschuler,Huffington Post"[F]ascinating."--Pacific Standard Magazine"This book is already being hailed as a landmark study of American political representation."--Thomas Ferguson,Perspectives on Politics"[I] was simply unaware of the facts presented in Martin Gilens's newAffluence and Influence. Gilens compiles a massive data set of public opinion surveys and subsequent policy outcomes, and reaches a shocking conclusion: Democracy has a strong tendency to simply supply the policies favored by the rich. When the poor, the middle class, and the rich disagree, American democracy largely ignores the poor and the middle class. . . . [I]ntellectually satisfying . . ."--Bryan Caplan,Econlog"This nuanced, carefully constructed volume evaluates the relationship between growing economic inequality and political power in the U.S., finding that policy outcomes are biased overwhelmingly in favour of the affluent. . . . Especially impressive are his successful efforts at separating the influence of interest groups and political parties on policy outcomes from the influence of public opinion by economic class. His opening chapter on citizen competence and democratic decision making should be required reading for those who doubt the feasibility and value of a truly representative government."--Choice"Martin Gilens makes an important empirical contribution to the discussions about the effects of inequality on policymaking in the United States."--Nolan McCarty,American Interest"Gilens' book, as with all good political science scholarship, provides the cold, hard data to prove a crucial hypothesis of our times, in this case that American politics responds only to the preferences of the affluent. . . . [I]t is certainly well-written by academic standards; it is clinical and precise, with a table of logistic regressions to back up every claim. So if you are looking for a rigorous study of the relationship between affluence and influence, then look no further. This book is a vital weapon in the armoury for anyone who suspects that American democracy might not be all it seems."--Maeve McKeown,New Left Project"At a time when economic and political inequality in the United States only continues to rise,Affluence and Influenceraises important questions about whether American democracy is truly responding to the needs of all its citizens."--World Book Industry