The chapter I referenced by Ken Ames includes a whole definition section, which in turn cites the classic definition by Morton Fried: 1) Everyone has access to

The chapter I referenced by Ken Ames includes a whole definition section, which in turn cites the classic definition by Morton Fried: 1) Everyone has access to the necessities of life and 2) Equal access to positions of prestige, which don't confer dominance over others That's typically contrasted with so-called "ranked societies", which are on the farther end of lacking one or both of these. Without getting too political or making value judgements, "American society" has both severely unequal access to the necessities of life (e.g. I can afford housing in the bay area as a tech worker, but others cannot) as well as positions of prestige and dominance over others that are not reciprocal (e.g. Uber CEO vs Uber SWEs vs Uber drivers).