American Attitudes Toward Economic Inequality

Abstract

In a democratic society, changes in policy or outcomes are expected to be a product of the people’s preferences. To what extent do the American people support policies that reduce income inequality? This paper investigates whether Americans are supportive of large gaps in income, and finds that, contrary to popular perception, the American public is unsupportive of reducing income differences, a majority favor reductions in inequality. In examining the reasons for this support, I find that partisan and ideological attachments, along with economic self-interest are substantively and most consistently the strongest predictors of an individual’s support for reducing income inequality. These findings suggest that in light of increases in wealth inequality, elected officials’ failure to reduce this growth spurns the public will.

Keywords: inequality, public opinion