Inequality In A Democratic Political System

Democratic political systems form the foundation for the redistribution of power and pursuit of egalitarianism. They offer the majority a voice through formal channels of collective decision-making, based on: free and fair elections, universal suffrage and political accountability, (Huber, et al., 1997:323). Therefore, considering that inequality originates from the arenas of societies’ stratification structures and the economic markets, democratic political systems have to manoeuvre beyond the political and in to the economic and social arenas to curtail inequalities. This essay will discuss the issue, are socio-economic inequalities more likely to be tackled in a democratic political system? Firstly, defining the notions of democracy and

Electoral democratic systems are perceived to be easily manipulated by the elite as policies are geared in their favour. For Beitz (1982), autocratic regimes are impervious to the pressures of self-interested groups, and the success of the East Asian developmental state models of Taiwan, Singapore and Japan in the 1980s, proves that authoritarian systems are better at tackling inequality. Bermeo (2009:25) further demonstrates, although the American democratic political system fosters relatively egalitarian social norms, its public policies continue to mirror the interest of the wealthy; illustrating an imperfect representation in the political system. Moreover, middle-income voters are cautious of redistributive policies because they not only affect elites, but also themselves. Elites can manipulate the fear of the middle class by depicting redistribution as a slippery slope, (Bermeo, 2009:28). Ansell and Samuels (2008) therefore note, “democratization is not a redistribution game, [as political democracies aim to guarantee elites] impartial protections against violations of contracts and property rights by the state.”, (Bermeo, 2009:28). This explanation portrays democracy as a right rather than redistribution model, further revealing why democracy and economic inequalities have coexisted for a long period. Thus, through

The main explanation is that, economic equality through material redistribution is difficult to formulate due to the extent of economic inequalities that go beyond issues of ownership of land. Modern economic inequalities are characterised by: the globalised economy where capital is mobile and human capital which is non-distributive. Thus, the nature of economic inequality makes it unlikely for political democracies to tackle them. Hence, it has been argued that political democracies that reign for lengthy periods, rather than the level of political democracy as measured at one point in time, are more likely to tackle socio-economic disparities, (Sirowy and Inkeles, 1990:144). However, the level of success of political democracies curbing socio-economic inequalities varies from state to state, and how they are affected by neo-liberal policies. Empirical studies, though inconclusive, have illustrated the importance of refraining from making generalisations about the democracy-inequality