Abstract
From the writing team of Kay Lehman Schlozman, Henry E. Brady, and Sidney Verba comes Unequal and Unrepresented: Political Inequality and the People’s Voice in the New Gilded Age, another fine volume about inequality, political participation, and political influence in the United States. As the third title from these authors on the topic, Unequal and Unrepresented differs from preceding works mostly in its focus on extreme Gilded-age inequity and, naturally, its related contemporary source material. The volume offers little in the way of sustained, overarching argument. But it would be a valuable addition to the bookshelf of any sociologist looking for a comprehensive reference guide to the literature on stratification and political participation—or, for that matter, anyone with an amateur interest in American politics.
The core of the volume offers an overview of research on the political effects of income inequity. Chapters detail differences in the policy preferences of individuals in different income quintiles as well as their varying propensities to engage in party politics, engage in politics via the internet and social media, and join social movements. Two more chapters detail the nature and activities of organized lobbying groups. The authors draw from four datasets and present a masterful review of other studies. The overall takeaway will likely surprise no one: those with lower incomes participate in all political activities at lower rates than higher-income individuals, and organized lobbying groups also overwhelmingly represent the more affluent.
But, beyond this, Unequal and Unrepresented contains many side arguments, insights, and wrinkles that will surprise and titillate even those familiar with the literature on political participation. One learns that income is virtually the only significant predictor of political contributions, which means that party donors are generally less politically engaged and extreme than those who engage in the political process in other ways (p. 79). Campaign work, though uncommon overall, is more evenly distributed by income than any other form of political engagement (p. 87). Rates of political engagement exhibit a “V shape” when graphed against ideological consistency, such that the ideologically moderate engage in virtually all forms of political activity at lower rates than the ideologically extreme (p. 98). Political participation via the internet and social media appears to be just as stratified by income as other forms of participation (p. 121). Though only 21.5 percent of American workers are employed in executive or professional occupations, these occupational categories account for 94 percent of economically focused lobbying groups (p. 161). Such take-home points will probably vary for each reader, but everyone is likely to learn something new.
Later chapters of the book nicely summarize recent trends in income inequality, though these will be less surprising for sociologists who have a passing familiarity with the contemporary stratification literature. Ultimately, these sections of the book read as disconnected from chapters focused on political participation and influence due to a data mismatch. We know that most income gains in recent decades have gone to the top 1 percent and .1 percent. Data in political science are generally not so granular, and analyses typically divide respondents into income quintiles or deciles. Therefore, the book manages to show that participation among poorer Americans remains low and has probably decreased slightly as incomes have grown more unequal, but it can offer only unsupported conclusions about the political activities and influence of the 1 percent.
Nevertheless, Unequal and Unrepresented is a worthwhile purchase for those with a professional interest in political participation or anyone anticipating teaching a course that touches on the topic. The volume may not be ideally suited for adoption in sociology courses due to sections that focus on political science geek-speak that aligns poorly with our own disciplinary jargon—for example, an introductory chapter that focuses almost entirely on definitions and types of “political voice” (Chapter 2). But Unequal and Unrepresented would make for a fine instructor’s manual, helping one to identify and incorporate the most relevant and up to date monographs and articles on any related topic.