The evolution of economic and political inequality: minding the gap

The extent of economic and political inequality, their change over time, and the forces shaping them have profound implications for the sustainability of a society and the well-being of its members. Here we review the evolution of economic and political inequality broadly, though with particular attention to Europe and the USA. We describe legal/institutional, technological and social forces that have shaped this evolution. We highlight the cumulative effects of inequality across generations as channelled through wealth and inheritance but also through other intergenerational connections. We also review the state of research on the effects of inequality on economic growth, health and societal cohesion. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Evolutionary ecology of inequality’.

[1]  G. Alfani.  Economic Inequality in Preindustrial Times: Europe and Beyond , 2021, Journal of Economic Literature.

[2]  Kenneth Bunker.  Cultural backlash: Trump, Brexit, and authoritarian populism , 2019, Democratization.

[3]  P. Ager,et al.  The Intergenerational Effects of a Large Wealth Shock: White Southerners after the Civil War , 2019, American Economic Review.

[4]  B. Milanovic,et al.  Income Level and Income Inequality in the Euro‐Mediterranean Region, C. 14–700 , 2019 .

[5]  Sandra E. Black,et al.  Intergenerational Mobility : The Role of Nature versus Nurture in Wealth and Other Economic Outcomes and Behaviors , 2019 .

[6]  Bruce A. Weinberg,et al.  Does Parental Quality Matter? Evidence on the Transmission of Human Capital Using Variation in Parental Influence from Death, Divorce, and Family Size , 2019, Journal of Labor Economics.

[7]  W. Collins,et al.  Unions and the Great Compression of Wage Inequality in the Us at Mid‐Century: Evidence from Local Labour Markets , 2018, The Economic History Review.

[8]  S. Naidu,et al.  Unions and Inequality Over the Twentieth Century: New Evidence from Survey Data , 2018, The Quarterly Journal of Economics.

[9]  Sam Geens.  Peter H. Lindert & Jeffrey G. Williamson, Unequal gains. American Growth and Inequality since 1700 , 2017 .

[10]  Raj Chetty,et al.  The Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility Ii: County-Level Estimates , 2016 .

[11]  Eric D. Gould,et al.  Growing Apart, Losing Trust? The Impact of Inequality on Social Capital , 2016, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[12]  Florian R. Hertel,et al.  Class mobility across three generations in the U.S. and Germany , 2014 .

[13]  Gregory Clark,et al.  The Son Also Rises: Surnames and the History of Social Mobility , 2014 .

[14]  Miles Corak,et al.  Income Inequality, Equality of Opportunity, and Intergenerational Mobility , 2013, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[15]  T. Piketty.  Capital in the twenty-first century: a multidimensional approach to the history of capital and social classes. , 2013, The British journal of sociology.

[16]  Josh Bivens,et al.  The Pay of Corporate Executives and Financial Professionals as Evidence of Rents in Top 1 Percent Incomes , 2013 .

[17]  Jason Long,et al.  Intergenerational Occupational Mobility in Great Britain and the United States since 1850 , 2013 .

[18]  Emmanuel Saez,et al.  The Top 1 Percent in International and Historical Perspective , 2013 .

[19]  Thomas W. Volscho,et al.  The Rise of the Super-Rich , 2012 .

[20]  Joshua L. Rosenbloom,et al.  Economic evolution and revolution in historical time , 2011 .

[21]  Paul L. Hooper,et al.  Intergenerational Wealth Transmission and the Dynamics of Inequality in Small-Scale Societies , 2009, Science.

[22]  Jake Bowers,et al.  Politics across Generations: Family Transmission Reexamined , 2009, The Journal of Politics.

[23]  Gary Solon,et al.  Influences of nature and nurture on earnings variation: A report on a study of various sibling types in Sweden , 2009 .

[24]  T. Smeeding.  Public Policy, Economic Inequality, and Poverty: The United States in Comparative Perspective , 2005 .

[25]  Larry M. Bartels.  Economic Inequality and Political Representation , 2005 .

[26]  J. R. Alford,et al.  Are Political Orientations Genetically Transmitted? , 2005, American Political Science Review.

[27]  Emmanuel Saez,et al.  Income inequality in the United States , 2003 .

[28]  Samuel Bowles,et al.  The Evolution of Inequality , 2001 .

[29]  Stanley L. Engerman,et al.  History Lessons Institutions, Factor Endowments, and Paths of Development in the New World , 2000 .

[30]  E. Etzioni-Halevy.  Classes and Elites in Democracy and Democratization: A Collection of Readings , 1997 .

[31]  Henry E. Brady,et al.  Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics , 1996 .

[32]  S. Parker,et al.  TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF “RALLY” EFFECTS PUBLIC OPINION IN THE PERSIAN GULF WAR , 1995 .

[33]  R. Putnam.  Tuning In, Tuning Out: The Strange Disappearance of Social Capital in America , 1995, PS: Political Science & Politics.

[34]  T. Maloney.  Wage Compression and Wage Inequality Between Black and White Males in the United States, 1940–1960 , 1994, The Journal of Economic History.

[35]  A. Alesina,et al.  Income Distribution, Political Instability, and Investment , 1993 .

[36]  Michael Saward,et al.  The Terms of Democracy , 1991 .

[37]  Charles W. Ostrom,et al.  THE MAN IN THE TEFLON SUIT? THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONNECTION, POLITICAL DRAMA, AND POPULAR SUPPORT IN THE REAGAN PRESIDENCY , 1989 .

[38]  R. Inglehart,et al.  Generational Replacement and the Future of Post-Materialist Values , 1987, The Journal of Politics.

[39]  John Bradley,et al.  Participation and Political Equality: A Seven-Nation Comparison , 1980 .

[40]  K. Bollen.  Political Democracy and the Timing of Development , 1979 .

[41]  R. Jackman.  On the Relation of Economic Development to Democratic Performance , 1973 .

[42]  Ronald Inglehart,et al.  The Silent Revolution in Europe: Intergenerational Change in Post-Industrial Societies , 1971, American Political Science Review.

[43]  R. Lane.  The Fear of Equality , 1959, American Political Science Review.

[44]  S. Lipset.  Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy , 1959, American Political Science Review.

[45]  C. Wright Mills,et al.  Power Elite , 1956, Encyclopedia of Social Network Analysis and Mining.

[46]  C. Mills,et al.  White Collar: The American Middle Classes. , 1954 .

[47]  G. Alfani.  Epidemics, Inequality and Poverty in Preindustrial and Early Industrial Times , 2020 .

[48]  Leon Hirsch.  The Middle Class And Democracy In Socio Historical Perspective , 2016 .

[49]  Brad Verhulst,et al.  Correlation not causation: the relationship between personality traits and political ideologies. , 2012, American journal of political science.

[50]  R. Wilkinson,et al.  The spirit level : why greater equality makes societies stronger , 2011 .

[51]  C. Pope.  Measuring the distribution of material well-being: U.S. trends ☆ , 2009 .

[52]  F. Solt.  Economic Inequality and Democratic Political Engagement , 2008 .

[53]  Lawrence F. Katz,et al.  The Race Between Education And Technology , 2008 .

[54]  S. Verba,et al.  Family ties: Understanding the intergenerational transmission of political participation , 2005 .

[55]  Roger Paden,et al.  Justice as Impartiality , 1999 .

[56]  Ronald M. Glassman.  The new middle class and democracy in global perspective , 1997 .

[57]  I. Ward.  Europe and Beyond , 1996 .

[58]  R. Frank,et al.  The Winner-Take-All Society , 1995 .

[59]  Ronald M. Glassman.  The middle class and democracy in socio-historical perspective , 1995 .

[60]  S. Huntington.  The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century , 1991 .

[61]  R. Inglehart.  The Silent revolution: Changing values and political styles among western publics , 1977 .

[62]  R. Dahl.  Polyarchy; participation and opposition , 1971 .

[63]  E. E. Schattschneider.  The Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America , 1960 .