Rising Income Inequality Decreases Civic Participation
Oren M. Levin-Waldman is professor of public policy at the Metropolitan College of New York and the author of “Wage
Policy, Income Distribution, and Democratic Theory.”
Over the past four decades, the United States has seen middle-class wages stagnate and income inequality rise. Increasing income inequality is a problem because it reflects the decline of the middle class and the disappearance of middle-class jobs. But it also threatens the survival of a democratic society.


