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Ch. 9: Congress. A Disconnect between Political Elites and the Mass Public. The disconnect. Political polarization in elites : Congress Issue publics Political moderation in the mass public. Sources of elite polarization. Ideological divisions Conservative v. liberal bases
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Ch. 9: Congress A Disconnect between Political Elites and the Mass Public
The disconnect • Political polarizationin elites: • Congress • Issue publics • Political moderationin the mass public
Sources of elite polarization • Ideological divisions • Conservative v. liberal bases • But: both parties include libertarian & populist wings • Changes in election rules • Liberal reform: “power to the people” • Conservative reform: “freedom of political speech” • Wealth gap between Congress & public
Public v. Congressional Wealth Sources: Center for Responsive Politics; US Census; Edward Wolff, Bard College. http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/oss/oss2/2007/scf2007home.html http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/overview.php?type=W&year=2009&filter=C http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/11/congressional-members-personal-weal.html
10 richest members of Congress (all 10 voted to extend Bush’s tax cuts for the rich) http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/index.php http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/111/senate/2/276?ref=politics http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/111/house/2/647
Income inequality in the U.S.(2008) http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_589.pdf
Change in income distribution(1979-2007) http://www.cbo.gov/publications/collections/tax/2010/all_tables.pdf
Actual v. perceiveddistribution of wealth in the U.S. http://www.people.hbs.edu/mnorton/norton%20ariely%20in%20press.pdf
How rich are the super rich?(2007 data) • Note: The 2007 data (the most current) doesn't reflect the impact of the housing market crash. • In 2007, the bottom 60% of Americans had 65% of their net worth tied up in their homes. The top 1%, in contrast, had just 10%. • The housing crisis has no doubt further swelled the share of total net worth held by the superrich. http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_589.pdf
Change in tax rates at the top(1913 – 2010) http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.html
Change in share of tax burden(1950 – 2007) http://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=3719
Key economic changes(2007 – 2009) http://osc.state.ny.us/osdc/rpt10-2011.pdf http://www.bls.gov/cps/prev_yrs.htm http://www.federalreserve.gov/RELEASES/z1/Current/annuals/a1995-2004.pdf http://www.federalreserve.gov/RELEASES/z1/Current/annuals/a2005-2009.pdf
CEO v. worker pay(2009) http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/charts/view/17