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For the best political science publication in 2008 in the field of U.S. national policy.

Award Committee: Paul Allen Beck, Chair, Ohio State University;
Anna L. Harvey, New York University; and Stephen Skowronek,
Yale University

Recipient: Larry Bartels, Princeton University

Book: Unequal Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2008)

Citation: Unequal Democracy is an outstanding and timely study of how “politics matters” in accounting for the rising income inequality in America since the 1970s.  Its examination of the political economy under different presidential administrations shows clear partisan differences since World War Two: Working and middle class family incomes have fared better under Democrats, the rich better under Republicans; and unemployment is lower under Democratic presidents, economic growth higher, while inflation does not differ much by party.  Despite such outcomes, Americans have elected more Republican than Democratic presidents during this time.  The explanation for this puzzling voter inattention to their economic interests, provided mainly through intensive analysis of decades of American National Election Study data, is not that cultural and other issues trump economic issues.  Instead, it results from voter “myopia” in focusing on income growth only in the presidential election year, the one year in the president’s term when they do better under Republicans; greater sensitivity to income growth among middle and upper class voters than among the working class; Republican advantages in campaign spending; and greater attentiveness among Senators, Democrats and Republicans alike, to the interests of their upper-income constituents than to lower income Americans.  More broadly, while the public may favor more equality in incomes in principle, they are not well aware of the realities of inequality, and their partisan and ideological predilections guide both their perceptions of this reality and their policy preferences.  Specific case studies of public opinion on the Bush tax cuts of the early 2000s, the estate tax, and the minimum wage demonstrate a widespread lack of voter understanding of the issues involved, as well as the ability of minimum wage reform opponents to block policies that the public would support.  The results from this study will be controversial – and, like income inequality, probably will be viewed through partisan and ideological lenses.  Some may be dismayed for what they suggest about voter capabilities and influence in the operation of American democracy.  Nonetheless, the care taken in the analysis, the rigorous application of controls and testing of alternative explanations, and the sheer comprehensiveness of the effort should compel everyone interested in understanding contemporary American national politics and policy, not only rising income inequality, to come to grips with the story told in Unequal Democracy.  With it, Larry Bartels has provided a superb example of how social science theory and methods can be applied to illuminate the central issues of our time.