Politics

About: Politics is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 263762 publications have been published within this topic receiving 5388913 citations.

When Multiplication Doesn't Equal Quick Addition: Examining Intersectionality as a Research Paradigm

Abstract: In the past twenty years, intersectionality has emerged as a compelling response to arguments on behalf of identity-based politics across the discipline. It has done so by drawing attention to the simultaneous and interacting effects of gender, race, class, sexual orientation,andnationaloriginascategoriesofdifference.Intersectionalargumentsandresearchfindingshavehadvaryinglevelsof impact in feminist theory, social movements, international human rights, public policy, and electoral behavior research within political science and across the disciplines of sociology, critical legal studies, and history. Yet consideration of intersectionality as a research paradigm has yet to gain a wide foothold in political science. This article closely reads research on race and gender across subfields of political science to present a coherent set of empirical research standards for intersectionality.

Why Did the West Extend the Franchise? Democracy, Inequality, and Growth in Historical Perspective

Abstract: During the nineteenth century most Western societies extended voting rights, a decision that led to unprecedented redistributive programs. We argue that these political reforms can be viewed as strategic decisions by the political elite to prevent widespread social unrest and revolution. Political transition, rather than redistribution under existing political institutions, occurs because current transfers do not ensure future transfers, while the extension of the franchise changes future political equilibria and acts as a commitment to redistribution. Our theory also offers a novel explanation for the Kuznets curve in many Western economies during this period, with the fall in inequality following redistribution due to democratization. I. INTRODUCTION The nineteenth century was a period of fundamental political reform and unprecedented changes in taxation and redistribution. Britain, for example, was transformed from an ‘‘ oligarchy’’ run by an elite to a democracy. The franchise was extended in 1832 and then again in 1867 and 1884, transferring voting rights to portions of the society with no previous political representation. The decades after the political reforms witnessed radical social reforms, increased taxation, and the extension of education to the masses. Moreover, as noted by Kuznets, inequality, which was previously increasing, started to decline during this period: the Gini coefficient for income inequality in England and Wales had risen from 0.400 in 1823 to 0.627 in 1871, but fell to 0.443 in 1901. Two key factors in the reduction in inequality were the increase in the proportion of skilled workers [Williamson 1985] and the redistribution of income toward the poorer segments of the society. For example, taxes rose from 8.12 percent of National Product in 1867 to 18.8 percent by 1927, and the progressivity of the tax system increased substantially (see Lindert [1989]).

The state in capitalist society

Abstract: Presenting a sustained and concrete challenge to the current political consensus, this reference identifies the radical alternative of adopting socialism as the key issue facing civilization and the crucial condition of making substantial progress. Demonstrating that capitalist control of the state was so comprehensive that partial reforms were impossible, this reference attempts to explain how society has managed to evade socialism, exploring how its claims have failed to persuade many intellectuals and the potential benefactors of an alternative order. Reviewing the influence of economic elites and the dominant class, this study also probes the state's claims to legitimacy, defines the purpose and role of governments, and analyzes the concepts of reform and repression. Depicting how the state reemerged from behind the mystifications of the political system and its behavior to become the central theme of political studies, this radical and philosophical investigation combines a political appeal with thorough, detailed scholarship. A discussion of servants of the state and the concept of imperfect competition are also included.