Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-20T02:51:53.068Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Inequality and Political Violence Revisited

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

T. Y. Wang ,
William J. Dixon ,
Edward N. Muller  and
Mitchell A. Seligson
T. Y. Wang
Affiliation:
Illinois State University
William J. Dixon
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
Edward N. Muller
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
Mitchell A. Seligson
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In their 1987 article in this Review, Muller and Seligson used logged ordinary least-squares (LOLS) to estimate the effect of income inequality on cross-national levels of deaths by political violence. T. Y. Wang challenges the robustness of the main conclusion and argues for the application of a maximum likelihood approach—the exponential Poisson regression (EPR) model—rather than LOLS. He concludes that the widely used LOLS approach yields misleading conclusions when applied to event count data. Dixon, Muller, and Seligson replicate previous work using both LOLS and EPR approaches and conclude that in most—but not all—respects the two approaches yield similar results, supporting the effect of inequality when the specifications are identical. They also argue (in response to concerns expressed by Brockett 1992) that the inequality results are robust when account is taken systematically of the best information on underreporting of deaths.

Type
Controversy
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 87 , Issue 4 , December 1993 , pp. 979 - 993
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Boswell, T., and Dixon, W. J.. 1990. “Dependency and Rebellion: A Cross-National Analysis.” American Sociological Review 55:540–559.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boswell, Terry, and Dixon, William J.. 1993. “Marx's Theory of Rebellion: A Cross-National Analysis of Class Exploitation, Economic Development, and Violent Revolt.” American Sociological Review 58:forthcoming.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brockett, Charles D. 1992. “Measuring Political Violence and Land Inequality in Central America.” American Political Science Review 86:169–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cameron, A. Colin, and Trivedi, Pravin K.. 1986. “Econometric Models Based on Count Data: Comparisons and Applications of Some Estimators and Tests.” Journal of Applied Econometrics 1:29–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eckstein, Harry. 1980. “Theoretical Approaches to Explaining Collective Political Violence.” In Gurr, Ted R.. ed. Handbook of Political Conflict. New York: The Free Press:135–166.Google Scholar
Green, Jerrold D. 1982. Revolution in Iran. New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Green, Jerrold D. 1984. “Countermobilization as a Revolutionary Form.” Comparative Politics 16:153–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gurr, Ted Robert. 1968. “A Causal Model of Civil Strife: A Comparative Analysis Using New Indices.” American Political Science Review 62:1104–1124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gurr, Ted. R. 1970. Why Men Rebel. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Gurr, Ted Robert. 1974. “The Neo-Alexandrians: A Review Essay on Data Handbooks in Political Science.” American Political Science Review 68:243–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, B. H., Griliches, Z., and Hausman, J. A.. 1986. “Patents and R and D: Is There A Lag?” International Economic Review 27:265–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartman, John, and Hsiao, Wey. 1988. “Inequality and Violence: Issues of Theory and Measurement in Muller.” American Sociological Review 53:794–799.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hausman, J., Hall, B. H., and Griliches, Z.. 1984. “Econometric Models for Count Data with an Application to the Patents-R & D Relationship.” Econometrica 52:909–938.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hibbs, Douglas A. 1973. Mass Political Violence. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
King, Gary. 1987. “Presidential Appointments to the Supreme Court: Adding Systematic Explanation to Probabilistic Description.” American Politics Quarterly 15:373–386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, Gary. 1988. “Statistical Models for Political Science Event Counts: Bias in Conventional Procedures and Evidence for the Exponential Poisson Regression Model.” American Journal of Political Science 32:838–863.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, Gary. 1989a. Unifying Political Methodology: The Likelihood Theory of Statistical Inference. N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
King, Gary. 1989b. “Variance Specification in Event Count Models: From Restrictive Assumptions to a Generalized Estimator.” American Journal of Political Science 33:762–784.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, Gary. 1991. COUNT: A Program for Estimating Event Count and Duration Regressions. Version 3.0. Cambridge: Harvard University.Google Scholar
Lichbach, M. I. 1989. “An Evaluation of ‘Does Economic Inequality Breed Political Conflict’ Studies.” World Politics 41:431–470.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCullagh, P., and Nelder, J. A.. 1989. Generalized Liner Models. 2nd edition. New York: Chapman and Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Midlarsky, Manus I. 1988. “Rulers and the Ruled: Patterned Inequality and the Onset of Mass Political Violence.” American Political Science Review 82:491–509.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Midlarsky, Manus I. 1989. “Land Inequality and Political Violence.” American Political Science Review 83:587–595.Google Scholar
Muller, Edward N. 1985. “Income Inequality, Regime Repressiveness and Political Violence.” American Sociological Review 50:47–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muller, Edward N. 1988a. “Democracy, Economic Development, and Income Inequality.” American Sociological Review 53:50–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muller, Edward N. 1988b. “Inequality, Repression, and Violence: Issues of Theory and Research Design.” American Sociological Review 53:799–806.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muller, Edward N., and Seligson, Mitchell A.. 1987. “Inequality and Insurgency.” American Political Science Review 81:425–451.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muller, Edward N., Seligson, Mitchell A., and Fu, Hung-Der. 1989. “Land Inequality and Political Violence.” American Political Science Review 83:577–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Park, Kang. 1986. “Reexamination of the Linkage between Income Inequality and Political Violence.” Journal of Political and Military Sociology 14:185–197.Google Scholar
Pedhazur, Elazar J. 1982. Multiple Regression in Behavioral Research. 2nd edition. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar
Prosterman, Roy L. 1976. “IRI: A Simplified Predictive Index of Rural Instability.” Comparative Politics 8:339–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prosterman, Roy L., and Riedinger, Jeffrey M.. 1987. Land Reform and Democratic Development. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Russett, Bruce M., Alker, Hayward R. Jr., Deutsch, Karl W., and Lasswell, Harold D.. 1964. World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Simpson, Miles. 1990. “Political Rights and Income Inequality: A Cross-National Test.” American Sociological Review 55:682–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snyder, David. 1978. “Collective Violence: A Research Agenda and Some Strategic Considerations.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 22:499–534.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snyder, David, and Kelly, William R.. 1977. “Conflict Intensity, Media Sensitivity, and the Validity of Newaspaper Data.” American Sociological Review 42:105–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, Charles L. and Jodice, David A.. 1983. World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators 3rd. ed. Vols. 1 and 2. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Tufte, Edward R. 1974. Data Analysis for Politics and Policy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Weede, Erich. 1981. “Income Inequality, Average Income, and Domestic Violence.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 25:639–654.Google Scholar
Weede, Erich. 1986. “Income Inequality and Political Violence Reconsidered.” American Sociological Review 51:438–441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winkelmann, R., and Klaus, F. Zimmermann. 1992. “Robust Poisson Regression.” In Fahrmeir, L., Francis, B., Gilchrist, R., and Tutz, G.. eds. Advances in GLIM and Statistical Modelling. New York: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar