Class Position and Political Opinion in Rich Democracies

In many high-income countries today, scholarly interest in the politics of class has coincided with growing economic inequality, rising support for non-mainstream political parties and candidates, and increasing flows of immigration. We review social science research on the views of different class segments vis-à-vis economic, political, and sociocultural issues, finding greater scholarly attention to the interdependence of economic, social, and political concerns and preferences than arguably was the case even a few years ago. Our main aim is to synthesize and critically evaluate this rapidly expanding literature, but we also provide empirical data on class differences and similarities in political opinion across eighteen countries, and we pinpoint several areas of research that are in need of further empirical, methodological, and theoretical inquiry. (Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality Working Paper)