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Democracies tend to function better with a large middle class that's well educated and has economic clout than it does with a small, powerful moneyed elite and
by cauterized 10y ago
Democracies tend to function better with a large middle class that's well educated and has economic clout than it does with a small, powerful moneyed elite and a huge underclass that's struggling just to survive and has no time or mental energy to spare paying attention to politics.
Additionally, the discretionary spending of middle class households helps fuel the economy.
- partisan 10y ago> Democracies tend to function better with a large middle class that's well educated and has economic clout than it does with a small, powerful moneyed elite and a huge underclass that's struggling just to survive and has no time or mental energy to spare paying attention to politics. Sources?
- cauterized 10y agoBooks I read a decade ago in political science classes and couldn't remember who did the studies or proposed the theories. http://www.brill.com/middle-class-and-democracy-socio-historical-perspective http://www.brill.com/middle-class-and-democracy-socio-histor... looks like it might discuss the topic, but I don't know what perspective it takes
- dragonwriter 10y agoIf nothing else, a tighter clustering of incomes implies a certain degree of commonality of experience and interest compared to a less-tight distribution. This means a lower probability, all other things being equal, that a majority-supported position will be extremely unwelcome by a large minority, which is probably a good thing for a democratic state.