Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-g7rbq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-26T22:18:01.724Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - Political equality, wealth and democracy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Jacob Rowbottom
Jacob Rowbottom
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Get access

Summary

Wealth, power and influence are often mentioned together as symbols of status and prestige. Yet in a democracy, they can make an unhappy combination. If a democratic society is one that treats people as equals, then can it be consistent with an economic system in which the differences in wealth are so great? This tension between the distribution of wealth and democracy can emerge in different ways. Economic inequalities are thought to heighten divisions in society, where the lives and concerns of rich and poor barely seem to have any connection. Such a division based on extreme inequalities in wealth may thereby undermine the prospect for democratic decision-making to be a truly collective enterprise and for citizens in one economic group to understand the position of others. The tension between wealth and politics can also arise more directly, where the former is thought to secure political influence. Concerns about the influence of wealth in politics make the news headlines on a fairly regular basis, relating to a range of topics such as the funding of political parties, lobbying and the power of the media. For example, if MPs and ministers grant privileged access to political donors, or if media moguls command the attention of the public and politicians, it raises a problem for a democracy. Sometimes such influence is thought to have a corrupting effect on politics, suggesting that political influence has been ‘bought’.

Type
Chapter
Information
Democracy Distorted
Wealth, Influence and Democratic Politics
 , pp. 1 - 32
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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

Bartels, L., Unequal Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2008) ch. 9Google Scholar
Gilens, M., ‘Inequality and Democratic Responsiveness’ (2005) 69 Public Opinion Quarterly778CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Page, B., ‘Perspectives on Unequal Democracy’ (2009) 7 Perspectives on Politics148 at 149CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindblom, C., Politics and Market. The World's Political-Economic Systems (New York: Basic Books, 1977)Google Scholar
Grant, W., Business and Politics in Britain, second edition (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1993) pp. 32–45CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsh, D., ‘Pluralism and the Study of British Politics’, in C. Hay, British Politics Today (Cambridge: Polity, 2002) p. 26Google Scholar
Gamble, A., ‘Policy Agendas in a Multi-Level Polity’, in P. Dunleavy, A. Gamble, I. Holliday and G. Peele (eds.), Developments in British Politics 6 (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2000) pp. 303–5Google Scholar
Pattie, C., Seyd, P. and Whiteley, P., Citizenship in Britain (Cambridge University Press, 2004) p. 85CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verba, S., Schlozman, K. and Brady, H., Voice and Equality (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995) ch. 9Google Scholar
Sunstein, C., The Partial Constitution (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993) pp. 137–8Google Scholar
Verba, S. and Orren, G., Equality in America: the View from the Top (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985) p. 216Google Scholar
Gutmann, A. and Thompson, D., Democracy and Disagreement (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996) p. 26Google Scholar
Dworkin, R., Sovereign Virtue: the Theory and Practice of Equality (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000)Google Scholar
Beitz, C., Political Equality: an Essay in Democratic Theory (Princeton University Press, 1989)Google Scholar
Fredman, S., Discrimination Law (Oxford University Press, 2002) p. 14Google Scholar
Marmor, A., ‘Authority, Equality and Democracy’ (2005) 18 Ratio Juris315, at 332CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sadurski, W., ‘Legitimacy, Political Equality, and Majority Rule’ (2008) 21 Ratio Juris39, at 58CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brighouse, H., ‘Democracy and Inequality’, in A. Carter and G. Stokes (eds.), Democratic Theory Today (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2001)Google Scholar
Rawls, J., Political Liberalism (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996) p. 327Google Scholar
Brighouse, H., ‘Egalitarianism and Equal Availability of Political Influence’ (1996) 4 The Journal of Political Philosophy118, at 127CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pettit, P., Republicanism (Oxford University Press, 1997) p. 190Google Scholar
Bellamy, R., Political Constitutionalism (Cambridge University Press, 2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bohman, J., ‘Deliberative and Effective Social Freedom: Capabilities, Resources and Opportunities’, in J. Bohman and W. Rehg (eds.), Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997) pp. 329–30Google Scholar
Phillips, A., Which Equalities Matter? (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2000) pp. 79–83Google Scholar
Ginsborg, P., Democracy: Crisis and Renewal (London: Profile Books, 2008)Google Scholar
Copp, D., ‘Capitalism versus Democracy’, in J. D. Bishop, Ethics and Capitalism (University of Toronto Press, 2000) p. 86Google Scholar
Schumpeter, J., Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, fifth edition (London: Routledge, 1976) p. 269Google Scholar
Held, D., Models of Democracy, second edition (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1996) p. 179Google Scholar
Riker, W., Liberalism against Populism: a Confrontation between the Theory of Democracy and the Theory of Social Choice (San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1982) pp. 242–3Google Scholar
Shapiro, I., The State of Democratic Theory (Princeton University Press, 2003) pp. 74–5Google Scholar
Cohen, J., ‘Procedure and Substance in Deliberative Democracy’, in T. Christiano (ed.), Philosophy and Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2003) p. 20Google Scholar
Gutmann, A. and Thompson, D., Why Deliberative Democracy? (Princeton University Press, 2004) p. 15CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weale, A., Democracy, second edition (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2007) ch. 7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig, P., Public Law and Democracy in the United Kingdom and the United States of America (Oxford University Press, 1991)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunningham, F., Theories of Democracy: a Critical Introduction (London: Routledge, 2002)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ware, A., ‘The Concept of Political Equality: A Post-Dahl Analysis’ (1981) 29 Political Studies392, at 394–6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finer, S.E., Anonymous Empire (London: Pall Mall Press, 1966) pp. 118–21Google Scholar
Dahl, R., Preface to Democratic Theory (University of Chicago Press, 1956) p. 145Google Scholar
Lukes, S., Power: a Radical View, second edition (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2005) p. 39CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J. and Rogers, J., ‘Secondary Associations and Democratic Governance’ (1992) 20 Politics & Society393, at 411CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlozman, K., ‘What Accent the Heavenly Chorus? Political Equality and the American Pressure System’ (1984) 46 The Journal of Politics1006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahl, R., Dilemmas of Pluralist Democracy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982) pp. 99–100Google Scholar
Grant, W., Pressure Groups and British Politics (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2000) ch. 3Google Scholar
Dryzek, J., Deliberative Democracy and Beyond (Oxford University Press, 2000)Google Scholar
Dryzek, J. and Dunleavy, P., Theories of the Democratic State (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2009) p. 215CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J., ‘Democracy and Liberty’, in J. Elster (ed.), Deliberative Democracy (Cambridge University Press, 1998) p. 186Google Scholar
Kymlicka, W., Contemporary Political Philosophy: an Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2002) pp. 291–2Google Scholar
Christiano, T., The Rule of the Many (Oxford: Westview Press, 1996) p. 91Google Scholar
Goodin, R., Innovating Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2008) ch. 2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chambers, S., ‘Rhetoric and the Public Sphere: Has Deliberative Democracy Abandoned Mass Democracy?’ (2009) 37 Political Theory323, at 339CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J., ‘Deliberation and Democratic Legitimacy’, in J. Bohman and W. Rehg (eds.), Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997) pp. 85–6Google Scholar
Habermas, J., Between Facts and Norms (Cambridge: Polity, 1996) ch. 8Google Scholar
Habermas, J., The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (Cambridge: Polity, 1989)Google Scholar
Habermas, J., ‘Does Democracy Still Enjoy an Epistemic Dimension?’ (2006) 16 Communication Theory411CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calhoun, C., ‘Introduction’, in C. Calhoun (ed.), Habermas and the Public Sphere (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992) p. 28Google Scholar
Still, J.‘Political Equality and Election Systems’ (1981) 91 Ethics375CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Besson, S., The Morality of Conflict (Oxford: Hart, 2005) ch. 7Google Scholar
Cobb, R.W. and Elder, C.D., Participation in American Politics: the Dynamics of Agenda-building (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1972) p. 14Google Scholar
Ackerman, B. and Fishkin, J., Deliberation Day (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005)Google Scholar
Heard, A., The Costs of Democracy (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1960) p. 90Google Scholar
Manin, B., The Principles of Representative Government (Cambridge University Press, 1997) pp. 157–8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahl, R., Democracy and its Critics (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989) p. 333Google Scholar
Walzer, M., Spheres of Justice: a Defence of Pluralism and Equality (Oxford: Blackwell, 1983) p. 304Google Scholar
Verba, S. and Orren, G., Equality in America: the View from the Top (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985) ch. 10Google Scholar
See Cohen, J., ‘Money, Politics and Political Equality’, in Byrne, A., Stalnaker, R. and Wedgwood, R. (eds.), Fact and Value (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001) p. 53Google Scholar
Daniels, Norman, ‘Equal Liberty and Unequal Worth of Liberty’, in N. Daniels (ed.), Reading Rawls (New York: Basic Books, 1975) p. 271Google Scholar
Redish, M., Money Talks (New York University Press, 2001) p. 3Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×