Democracy and Income Equality (ANSWERED)

QUESTION

Initial Post Instructions

For the initial post, respond to one of the following options, and label the beginning of your post indicating either Option 1 or Option 2:

Option 1: Does democracy require equality of income or wealth? Discuss why democracy might make a country more or less egalitarian?
Option 2: Political scientist Larry Sabato has proposed a new constitutional conventionLinks to an external site.. Select any one of his proposed ideas and write a short list of pros and cons for this idea and support your reasoning.

Be sure to make connections between your ideas and conclusions and the research, concepts, terms, and theory we are discussing this week.

ANSWER

Option 1

Democracy and Income Equality

Different people define or understand democracy differently. However, the ideal meaning of democracy is a system where all people have equal standing before the law, political expression, voting, and influencing government activities. The theoretical construct implies that all citizens have equal standing before the government, whether rich or poor. It focuses on procedural equality where individuals are expected to have equal political and legal standing but not on how income, wealth, and resources are distributed. Procedural equality is necessary for creating a democratic society where individuals can freely participate in politics and pursue their objectives and goals. However, it has been observed that a society with a large percentage of the population being poor is not conducive to real political equality.

Procedural democracy is, as such, correlated to economic equality. Economic inequality often causes unrest. Societies with greater inequality between citizens and the elites are more likely to experience more changes. The masses of less equal states are more likely to demand democratization. Elites in such states would be more likely to extend the right of franchise to begin a transition for fear of a revolution. The elite maintains the status quo by preserving their power base while managing to contain the threat of revolution (Levin-Waldman, 2016). Still, real democratization should be achieved by redistributing resources to achieve more equality.

Income inequality can undermine procedural democracy as it limits the capacity of poor people to enjoy the rights and freedoms it provides. Yet well-functioning democracies can put policies in place to increase equality. The democratic process is based on the one person, one vote egalitarian principle, and it is supposed to reduce inequalities on paper. However, several impediments hinder the expected self-correction of inequality with democracy.

Democracy may not effectively reduce income inequality because voters do not demand policies that reduce inequality. Unequal or limited political participation causes a lack of voter pressure. Compulsory voting does not effectively increase voter turn-out among the underprivileged populations. The less wealthy and the less educated are less likely to vote. Also, those of them who vote are often less informed and they, as such, choose leaders who do not value their economic needs. The policy-making process will, as such, not prioritize the redistribution of resources due to popular demand. Incumbents can manipulate political institutions to retain power while others use narrow interest campaign donations to remain in power, failing to represent popular demand. Poor voters are also less represented because they are more susceptible to voter buying (Vlaicu, 2020).

In conclusion, income or wealth equality promotes democracy, and a well-functioning democracy makes a country more egalitarian. Economically disadvantaged populations do not appropriately engage in the democratic process, leading to a vicious cycle. Civic and political leaders can end the vicious cycle by strengthening democratic institutions such as independent media, civic liberties, and free elections. Over time, well-functioning democracy can reduce economic inequality in a country. In turn, economic equality will strengthen and sustain democracy.

References

Levin-Waldman, O. M. (2016). How inequality undermines democracy. E-International Relations. https://www.e-ir.info/2016/12/10/how-inequality-undermines-democracy/

Vlaucu, R. (2020). Can democracy reduce inequality? Ideas Matter. https://blogs.iadb.org/ideas-matter/en/can-democracy-reduce-inequality/