University of Minnesota Professor David Samuels says “relatively high income inequality is compatible with democracy.”
Samuels, who has done extensive research on inequality and political instability, says that is an uncomfortable finding of his research. Samuels is also co-author, with Ben Ansell, of Inequality and Democratization: An Elite Competition Approach.
David Samuels will speak at Western Michigan on Tuesday. His address at 3:30 Tuesday afternoon in the Political Science Library at Friedmann Hall is called Inequality and Democratic Survival. Samuels will give the annual Samuel Clark Lecture at 7:00 Tuesday night. Changing Brazil – A Glass Half Full? will be delivered in the Fetzer Center’s Putney Auditorium.
Samuels says research he did with Ansell found that income inequality doesn’t necessarily correlate with political instability. But Samuels says they found “land inequality” is more likely to have political consequences. He says labor problems in rural areas may drive political instability.
In an op-ed column for the Washington Post last year, Samuels tried to explain why lower income people may not demand higher taxes and redistribution of wealth. Samuels says some people vote on other issues, while younger voters may believe that they will have more wealth in the future and don’t want to pay higher taxes later. Samuels says some voters just have philosophical problems with redistributing wealth, even if it could help their own financial situation.
Samuels will also address Brazil during his visit to Western Michigan University. He says the South American country’s economy is collapsing during a political corruption scandal. But Samuels says many people in Brazil are protesting policies that tax more wealthy people and redistribute money the poor.
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