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America prides itself on being one of the most successful democratically governed counties. The idea of the American dream is that all citizens have equal civil liberties and a responsive government. However the effectiveness of democracy is being threatened by increasing inequality in the United States. “The dominant view holds that economic development and modernization are the key to the continued growth of democracy” (Snider and Faris 2001; United Nations, 2011). In the last decade especially the American Society has had significant moments of increasing equality. In 1960 the Civil Rights Movement changed how different races were viewed. Also in the 1960s the Women’s Right Movement push for equal rights between genders. Both of these changes allowed all citizen the same political and economical rights that are the building block of democracy. “While America has become equal regarding race, ethnicity, gender and other long standing forms of social exclusion, it has simultaneously experienced growing gaps of income and wealth” (Jacobs et al 2004). The income gaps has not just been growing between the poor and the rest of society but between the rich and the middle and working class. The middle class is now diminishing. “Disparities in wealth and income have recently grown more sharply in the United States than in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and many other advanced industrial democracies” (Jacobs et al 2004). “Putnam’s (1993, 2000) influential work, for example, suggests that a general decline in social capital in the western world could be undermining democratic institutions. Similarly, other evidence indicates that voter turnout has decreased dramatically in Western nations over the past few decades (Franklin 2004).” Thi...
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...versal of Brown v. Board of Education (New York: New Press, 1996).
•Przeworski, Adam. 1991. Democracy and the Market. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
•Putnam, Robert. 1993. Making Democracy Work. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
•Putnam, Robert. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster.
•Snider, Erin A. and David M. Faris. 2011. “The Arab Spring: U.S. Democracy Promotion in Egypt,” Middle East Policy, 18(3): 49–62.
•United Nations. 2011. United Nations Development Programme. Arab States Empowered lives. Resilient nations. <>.
•Weakliem, David L., Andersen, Robert and Heath, Anthony F. “The Directing Power? A Comparative Study of Public Opinion and Income Distribution” (Storrs, CT: Department of Sociology, University of Connecticut, 2003) pp. 47-48;
America has forever long been looked upon as the land of opportunity, yet for just as long struggled with the actual attainment of equal opportunity by all of its citizens. The lines of this inequality have b...
Schiller, W. J., Geer, J. G., & Segal, J. A. (2013). Gateways to democracy: introduction to American government, the essentials. (2nd ed.). Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth ;.
By using the points listed previously, it is evident that a small portion of the population control what policies are implement in America and hold most of the nation’s wealth. I believe this two factors, the wealth one possesses and the amount of control an individual has, are interconnected. America has become a nation where money can get you anyway because it significantly increases the amount of opportunities available to the individual. Many people can attest to the presence of this class, including individuals from Kansas City who participated in a cross-section study with detailed interviews. The citizens of Kansas City referred to these people as “big rich” or “blue bloods” (pg
Putnam, Robert D. 1995. Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital. Journal of Democracy 6 (1): 65-78.
Wealth inequality and income inequality are often mistaken as the same thing. Income inequality is the difference of yearly salary throughout the population.1 Wealth inequality is the difference of all assets within a population.2 The United States has a high degree of wealth distribution between rich and poor than any other majorly developed nation.3
Putnam, Robert D. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000
Income inequality not only harms us fiscally, but also affects our mental and physical wellbeing; therefore, it is important to identify the right ways to control wealth distribution among people.
Works Cited Hudson, William E. American Democracy in Peril: Eight Challenges to America’s Future – Fourth Edition. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2004. Landy, Marc and Sidney M. Milkis. American Government: Balancing Democracy and Rights.
There is a high degree of social inequality within the United States. Of most modern industrial countries, the United Stated has some of the richest and some of the poorest people to be found. That fact is very disturbing, however, explains why much of the inequality exists in the US. In the following essay I will explain to you about the inequality in our country and why it occurs, based on the theoretical perspectives of a functionalist, conflict theorist, and social interationist.
Inequality in the United States was present for a very long time. It wasn’t until essentially the 1960’s when blacks finally had all of their humane rights. It took many courageous and very charismatic leaders to achieve all the things colored people grasped during this time. In my essay today I will be talking about some of these extremely memorable and honorable events and people that transpired and why they are so significant.
Ever since agriculture replaced hunting and gathering, the division of labor led to the creation of social classes and the division of land and unequal distribution of food surplus allowing inequality to flourish. Unfortunately, this has not only remained, but inequality has exponentially grown, making the difference between each social class quite noticeable. This distressing factor makes American economy highly unstable, and there is little to be done in order to fix this grave issue. It is only a matter of time before America’s economy comes crashing down. American economic inequality has been around for a long time, and it has become a monumental issue.
Income inequality has affected American citizens ever since the American Dream came to existence. The American Dream is centered around the concept of working hard and earning enough money to support a family, own a home, send children to college, and invest for retirement. Economic gains in income are one of the only possible ways to achieve enough wealth to fulfill the dream. Unfortunately, many people cannot achieve this dream due to low income. Income inequality refers to the uneven distribution of income and wealth between the social classes of American citizens. The United States has often experienced a rise in inequality as the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, increasing the unstable gap between the two classes. The income gap in America has been increasing steadily since the late 1970’s, and has now reached historic highs not seen since the 1920’s (Desilver). UC Berkeley economics professor, Emmanuel Saez conducted extensive research on past and present income inequality statistics and published them in his report “Striking it Richer.” Saez claims that changes in technology, tax policies, labor unions, corporate benefits, and social norms have caused income inequality. He stands to advocate a change in American economic policies that will help close this inequality gap and considers institutional and tax reforms that should be developed to counter it. Although Saez’s provides legitimate causes of income inequality, I highly disagree with the thought of making changes to end income inequality. In any diverse economic environment, income inequality will exist due to the rise of some economically successful people and the further development of factors that push people into poverty. I believe income inequality e...
Landy, Marc and Sidney M. Milkis. American Government: Balancing Democracy and Rights. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
Growing up in one of the most developed nations in the world, the United States of America allows for opportunity for an individual to become successful and prosper financially. American sociologist, C. Wright Mills, argued that power was held within most of the individuals in the political, military and corporate sectors. After watching the film Inequality for All, my perspective on social inequality has influenced my perspective on social class.
In American society, there is a large disparity of wealth between the rich and the poor. This wealth disparity has far reaching effects into the areas of politics, education, culture, and more. By using their wealth to dominate politics, education, and culture, the rich perpetuate the exclusion of the poor into the substandard position of poverty.