Analysis Of Economic Inequality And Political Power By Martin Gilen

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In his three part writing, discussing economic inequality and political power, Martin Gilens analyzes the influence of class standing and income bracket on policy changes. In the first section, Gilens finds that when Americans in varying income brackets have similar preferences, the strength of the policy is greater. However, it is when these groups divide, that the policy changes favor those with high incomes. In the second part of his discussion, Gilens observes that during times of presidential election, or when the two parties have a near equal balance, policy more equally shows the preferences of all classes. Finally, the author brings up the point that policy favors the affluent in most cases because they may be more highly educated and better informed about policy changes. While the affluent may have an advantage, this still does not explain much of the inequality. …show more content…

He found that approximately half of proposed policy changes were supported by both low and high income levels. I agree with Martin in regards to the fact that when the affluent have different opinions on policy, the changes tend to favor their wants over middle-class and poor income levels. In another study done by Gilens as well as Benjamin Page, the policy outcomes between average citizens, economic elites, and interest groups were given. In this study, it was found that policy change with minimal support from the affluent only takes place approximately 18 percent of the time. On the other hand, change with high support occurred around 45 percent of the time. Just these numbers show that there is a large problem with policy changes favoring the elite and their interest groups rather than the average

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