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.
