The Dynamics of Income Inequality in a Representative Democracy
Peter van WIJCK and
Wil Arts
Additional contact information
Peter van WIJCK: Erasmus University
Wil Arts: Erasmus University
Rationality and Society, 1991, vol. 3, issue 3, 317-342
Abstract:
This article investigates the causes of income inequality in a representative democracy. The starting point of the analysis is Lenski's orienting statement that these dynamics can be explained by referring to political behavior that first became possible as a consequence of the institutionalization of democratic ideology. Two competing explanations are considered. The first originates from Lenski's technological-evolutionary theory of human societies, while the second is based on Downs's economic theory of democracy. Using time-series data pertaining to the case of the Netherlands, predictions derived from these theories are empirically tested. The Downsian explanation appears to be theoretically as well as empirically preferable to the Lenskian one.
Date: 1991
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:
Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1043463191003003005 (text/html)
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ratsoc:v:3:y:1991:i:3:p:317-342
DOI: 10.1177/1043463191003003005
Access Statistics for this article
More articles in Rationality and Society
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().