Class Attitudes in America: Sympathy for the Poor, Resentment of the Rich, and Political ImplicationsThis book explains a long-standing puzzle in American politics: why so many Americans support downwardly redistributive social welfare programs, when such support seems to fly in the face of standard conceptions of the American public as anti-government, individualistic, and racially prejudiced. Bringing class attitudes into the analysis, Spencer Piston demonstrates through rigorous empirical analysis that sympathy for the poor and resentment of the rich explain American support for downwardly redistributive programs - not only those that benefit the middle class, but also those that explicitly target the poor. The book captures an important and neglected component of citizen attitudes toward a host of major public policies and candidate evaluations. It also explains why government does so little to combat economic inequality; in key instances, political elites downplay class considerations, deactivating sympathy for the poor and resentment of the rich. |
Contents
Reigning Myths about Class Attitudes | 1 |
In Their Own Words | 17 |
A Theory of Attitudes toward Class Groups and Their Political | 28 |
Attitudes toward the Poor and the Rich in the United | 44 |
Why So Many Americans Support Downward | 56 |
The Role of Political Knowledge | 77 |
Effects of Class Group Attitudes on Vote Choice | 94 |
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Class Attitudes in America: Sympathy for the Poor, Resentment of the Rich ... Spencer Piston No preview available - 2018 |
Common terms and phrases
2013 ANES Recontact 2013 YouGov Study 2014 CCES Module Accessed online American politics American public analyses appendix argue asked attitudes toward class Barack Obama Bartels benefit Bernie Sanders candidate’s chapter class attitudes class group attitudes Clinton death tax Democratic deserve Donald Trump downward redistribution downwardly redistributive policies economic inequality estate tax example experimental condition favor Feldman Figure findings Gilens help the poor Hillary Clinton HMID Home Mortgage Interest influence Kalmoe Kinder less Lowest Highest majorities of Americans marginal effect McCain National Election Studies nationally representative Obama open-ended responses outgroup partisanship perceived percent Piston policy opinion political elites political preferences Political Science politicians poor and resentment poverty line presidential election programs public opinion public support Qualtrics R-squared racial Recontact Survey Republican resent the rich respondents Romney scholars scholarship self-interest social groups subgroups support for downward survey questions sympathy Trump view the poor vote choice voters wealth welfare x-axis