Several earlier studies have discussed the relationship between economic inequality and democracy, although no consensus have yet been reached regarding whether there is a relation and the actual shape of it. The aim of this study is to investigate this relationship via a time series cross sectional analysis. The study is performed with panel data containing measurements of the quality of liberal democracy within countries, as well as measurements of economic inequality (distribution of pretax national income and wealth in the household sector within the richest 1% and poorest 10% of the population). The study shows a relationship between economic inequality and the quality of liberal democracy. Furthermore, the different conceptualizations of economic inequality are shown to have different effect and relevance depending on the social groups in question. Income distribution correlates strongly positive with an increase in democratic quality regarding the poorest 10% of the population, while wealth distribution correlates negatively regarding the riches 1%. Furthermore, two theoretical mechanisms through which these effects could occur are investigated; one focuses on the effects that economic inequalities have on support for democracy among the poorest, the other on the effect that concentration of economic assets has on political equality and the actions of the wealthiest within society. The study shows support for the second mechanism regarding a relationship between measures of economic inequalities and measures of how much political influence is based on economic assets, where more economically unequal societies tend to also have a more unequal distribution of political influence.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:su-231373 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Nilsson, Adrian |
| Publisher | Stockholms universitet, Statsvetenskapliga institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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