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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 an
by 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.