Class War?: What Americans Really Think about Economic Inequality Contributor(s): Page, Benjamin I. (Author), Jacobs, Lawrence R. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0226644553 ISBN-13: 9780226644554 Publisher: University of Chicago Press OUR PRICE: $22.77 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: April 2009 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Political Science | Public Policy - Economic Policy - Political Science | Public Policy - Social Policy - Political Science | Public Policy - Social Services & Welfare |
Dewey: 339.220 |
LCCN: 2008043595 |
Physical Information: 0.5" H x 5.4" W x 8.3" (0.35 lbs) 160 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Recent battles in Washington over how to fix America's fiscal failures strengthened the widespread impression that economic issues sharply divide average citizens. Indeed, many commentators split Americans into two opposing groups: uncompromising supporters of unfettered free markets and advocates for government solutions to economic problems. But such dichotomies, Benjamin Page and Lawrence Jacobs contend, ring false. In Class War? they present compelling evidence that most Americans favor free enterprise and practical government programs to distribute wealth more equitably. At every income level and in both major political parties, majorities embrace conservative egalitarianism--a philosophy that prizes individualism and self-reliance as well as public intervention to help Americans pursue these ideals on a level playing field. Drawing on hundreds of opinion studies spanning more than seventy years, including a new comprehensive survey, Page and Jacobs reveal that this worldview translates to broad support for policies aimed at narrowing the gap between rich and poor and creating genuine opportunity for all. They find, for example, that across economic, geographical, and ideological lines, most Americans support higher minimum wages, improved public education, wider access to universal health insurance coverage, and the use of tax dollars to fund these programs. In this surprising and heartening assessment, Page and Jacobs provide our new administration with a popular mandate to combat the economic inequity that plagues our nation. |
Contributor Bio(s): Page, Benjamin I.: - Benjamin I. Page is the Gordon Scott Fulcher Professor of Decision Making at Northwestern University and the author or coauthor of several books, including Democracy in America? |