2020/03/04 by Mads Andreas Elkjær, Torben Iversen · 1 voice
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Fiscal Policies and Political Economy #Social Policy and Reform Studies #Economic Theory and Policy
paper · doi:10.1017/s0043887119000224
openalex publication_date 2020/03/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
ABSTRACT Rising inequality has caused concerns that democratic governments are no longer responding to majority demands, an argument the authors label the subversion of democracy model ( sdm ). The sdm comes in two forms: one uses public opinion data to show that policies are strongly biased toward the preferences of the rich; the other uses macrolevel data to show that governments aren’t responding to rising inequality. This article critically reassesses the sdm , points to potential biases, and proposes solutions that suggest a different interpretation of the data, which the authors label the representative democracy model ( rdm ). After testing the sdm against the rdm on public opinion data and on a new data set on fiscal policy, they find that middle-class power has remained remarkably strong over time, even as inequality has risen. The authors conclude that the rich have little influence on redistributive policies, and that the democratic state is apparently not increasingly constrained by global capital.