Politics of Inequality

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Over the past decades, the world’s wealthiest democracies have witnessed an unprecedented increase in inequalities. This course examines the political causes and consequences of inequalities in 1. outcomes (income, wealth, well-being, place and space) 2. opportunities (social mobility, education, employment) and 3. across social groups (class, race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion). To do so, it will examine the major supply and demand factors that underpin inequality dynamics and the distribution of power in democratic societies. What role do electoral systems, political parties, policy regimes and political histories play in alleviating or exacerbating inequalities over time and across space? How do various forms of inequality affect individual and group beliefs, vote choices, policy preferences, organized interests or protest?