Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age

Using a vast swath of data spanning the past six decades, Unequal Democracy debunks many myths about politics in contemporary America. Larry Bartels demonstrates that the gap between the rich and poor has increased greatly under Republican administrations and decreased slightly under Democrats, leaving America grossly unequal. Bartels also argues that the working class is not being lured into the Republican camp by “values issues” like abortion and gay marriage, but instead because Republican presidents have been remarkably successful in timing income growth to election years.

Unequal Democracy is a deep and searching analysis of the political causes and consequences of American's growing income gap, and a sobering assessment of the capacity of the American political system to live up to its democratic ideals.