Social Inequality Week 3: Political Inequality
Social Inequality
– Week 3: Political Inequality –
Content
Definition of Political Inequality ............................................................................................... 2
Political Social Representation .............................................................................................. 2
Causes of Political Inequality .................................................................................................... 3
Inequality elsewhere .............................................................................................................. 3
Micro theory (predicting voting behaviour) ...................................................................... 3
Transformation rules (from voting behaviour to voting outcome) .................................... 3
Political power (of corporations) ........................................................................................... 4
Ethnic Affinity Voting ............................................................................................................... 4
1
, Social Inequality Week 3: Political Inequality
Definition of Political Inequality
Quantities:
Resources: political power, political knowledge
Rights: political rights
Power: political representation, political participation, political activism
Behaviour: voting, lobbying
Units:
Citizens or electorate within a country
Organizations / corporations
Countries
Political equality: Everyone has an equal say in how their country is run, that everyone
exerts and equal influence on political decisions.
Political power: The power to set the rules of the game.
- Instrumental political power (via resources),
- Structural political power (via position in social system) → E.g. Lobbies
- Discursive political power (via changing values)
Compare Duschmeyer:
- Political inequality due to influencing political sphere (direct).
- Political inequality due to influencing views, values and preferences (indirect /
cultural hegemony).
Political Social Representation
Political social representation refers to the extent to which parliaments (lower and upper
house) reflect the social composition of the electorate or even more general the total
2
Social Inequality
– Week 3: Political Inequality –
Content
Definition of Political Inequality ............................................................................................... 2
Political Social Representation .............................................................................................. 2
Causes of Political Inequality .................................................................................................... 3
Inequality elsewhere .............................................................................................................. 3
Micro theory (predicting voting behaviour) ...................................................................... 3
Transformation rules (from voting behaviour to voting outcome) .................................... 3
Political power (of corporations) ........................................................................................... 4
Ethnic Affinity Voting ............................................................................................................... 4
1
, Social Inequality Week 3: Political Inequality
Definition of Political Inequality
Quantities:
Resources: political power, political knowledge
Rights: political rights
Power: political representation, political participation, political activism
Behaviour: voting, lobbying
Units:
Citizens or electorate within a country
Organizations / corporations
Countries
Political equality: Everyone has an equal say in how their country is run, that everyone
exerts and equal influence on political decisions.
Political power: The power to set the rules of the game.
- Instrumental political power (via resources),
- Structural political power (via position in social system) → E.g. Lobbies
- Discursive political power (via changing values)
Compare Duschmeyer:
- Political inequality due to influencing political sphere (direct).
- Political inequality due to influencing views, values and preferences (indirect /
cultural hegemony).
Political Social Representation
Political social representation refers to the extent to which parliaments (lower and upper
house) reflect the social composition of the electorate or even more general the total
2
