Income Inequality and Global Political Polarization: The Economic Origin of Political Polarization in the World

Gu, Yanfeng; Wang, Zhongyuan

doi:10.1007/s11366-021-09772-1

Cited by 15 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…As moralization intensifies, this can lead individuals and groups to entrench themselves in moral positions—views which are typically less open to compromise compared to nonmoral beliefs ( 55 ). Indeed, high inequality is linked to greater polarization in society ( 56 , 57 ), and research also suggests that moralization leads to polarizing outcomes, such as greater distancing from those with dissimilar beliefs ( 30–32 ) and increased partisan bias ( 30 ). Future work should focus on when, why, and how moralization may (or may not) be an effective way of restoring a sense of order and control, for both the individual and society more broadly.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High economic inequality is linked to greater moralization

Kirkland,

Van Lange,

Gorenz

et al. 2024

PNAS Nexus

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Throughout the 21st century, economic inequality is predicted to increase as we face new challenges, from changes in the technological landscape to the growing climate crisis. It is crucial we understand how these changes in inequality may affect how people think and behave. We propose that economic inequality threatens the social fabric of society, in turn increasing moralization – that is, the greater tendency to employ or emphasize morality in everyday life – as an attempt to restore order and control. Using longitudinal data from X, formerly known as Twitter, our first study demonstrates that high economic inequality is associated with greater use of moral language online (e.g., the use of words such as ‘disgust’, ‘hurt’ and ‘respect’). Study 2 then examined data from 41 regions around the world, generally showing that higher inequality has a small association with harsher moral judgments of people’s everyday actions. Together these findings demonstrate that economic inequality is linked to the tendency to see the world through a moral lens.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High economic inequality is linked to greater moralization

Kirkland,

Van Lange,

Gorenz

et al. 2024

PNAS Nexus

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“…The digital divide impairs individuals' ability to cast an informed vote or engage meaningfully in public debate at any level. Therefore, unequal digital connectivity not only exacerbates existing inequalities but also deepens social and political exclusion, particularly for vulnerable and marginalized groups, which may increase political polarization and political fragmentation within democracies (Gu and Wang 2022).…”

Section: Promote Digital Inclusivity As a Baseline For Democracymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Global Digital Compact for Democracy

Gibaja,

Castellaro,

Hammar

2024

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Since technologies are not neutral, the principles underpinning digital technologies and their governance system are fundamental to protecting their capacity to foster, maintain and protect human rights. This Policy Paper identifies four areas of work that highlight the main opportunities for embracing democracy through an open and safe digital future as well as the challenges to doing so. These areas are: (a) closing the digital divide; (b) ensuring that human rights are the core value shaping the Global Digital Compact; (c) putting in place artificial intelligence governance that protects fundamental rights and democracy; and (d) advancing data governance for the common good.

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“…Political and affective polarisation are not necessarily forms of inequality. However, some studies point to the interrelationship, whereby growing economic inequality reinforces cultural and political divides between the elite and those experiencing poverty and disadvantage (Gu and Wang, 2022). In social class terms, polarisation can be understood as increased cultural difference, and potentially also hostility, between different social classes as suggested by Holmqvist and Wiesel (2022).…”

Section: Polarisation: Pyramids Eggs and Hourglassesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Income polarisation, expenditure and the Australian urban middle class

et al. 2023

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Recent years have seen growing concern about the ‘hollowing out’ of the middle class, due to processes of polarisation. In this paper, we examine different conceptualisations of polarisation, and introduce the concept of expenditure-adjusted polarisation that considers not only income, but also various key categories of expenditure at a household level: housing, groceries and meals, transport and energy. Analysing longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey, we show that the Australian society is significantly more polarised, with fewer middle-income households, when the relative size of income groups in a given year is based on expenditure-adjusted income rather than pre-expenditure income. Such polarisation is particularly prominent when housing expenditure is considered and has distinctive spatial patterns. In contrast, our analysis finds no evidence of a temporal pattern of polarisation in Australia between 2005 and 2019, with no substantial change in the size of income groups over time, regardless of which income measures are used. We argue that a more nuanced conceptualisation of polarisation, and its relation to processes of ‘hollowing out’ and rising inequality, is needed to inform urban scholarship and policy.

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Income Inequality and Global Political Polarization: The Economic Origin of Political Polarization in the World

Cited by 15 publications

References 48 publications

High economic inequality is linked to greater moralization

High economic inequality is linked to greater moralization

A Global Digital Compact for Democracy

Income polarisation, expenditure and the Australian urban middle class

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