False Consciousness or Class Awareness? Local Income Inequality, Personal Economic Position, and Belief in American Meritocracy
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| Authors | Benjamin Newman, Christopher David Johnston, Patrick L. Lown |
| Journal/Conference Name | AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE |
| Paper Category | Social Sciences |
| Paper Abstract | Existing research analyzes the effects of cross-national and temporal variation in income inequality on public opinion; however, research has failed to explore the impact of variation in inequality across citizens� local residential context. This article analyzes the impact of local inequality on citizens� belief in a core facet of the American ethos�meritocracy. We advance conditional effects hypotheses that collectively argue that the effect of residing in a high-inequality context will be moderated by individual income. Utilizing national survey data, we demonstrate that residing in more unequal counties heightens rejection of meritocracy among low-income residents and bolsters adherence among high-income residents. In relatively equal counties, we find no significant differences between high- and low-income citizens. We conclude by discussing the implications of class-based polarization found in response to local inequality with respect to current debates over the consequences of income inequality for American democracy. |
| Date of publication | 2015 |
| Code Programming Language | R |
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