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May 19, 2024
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2015-2016 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
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HS 250 Inequality in Modern America
(also listed as PS 250 )
During the last three decades, American citizens have grown increasingly unequal in terms of income and wealth. Economic inequality is now greater than at any other point in American history except for the Gilded Age, and it continues to escalate. Far greater economic inequality exists in the United States today than in other western, industrialized nations. This new inequality began to emerge soon after the “rights revolution” had achieved the demise of formal, legal discrimination, but economic divisions now reinforce many of the old divisions of race, ethnicity, and gender, undermining the promise of greater equality. This course will examine inequality in modern America, focusing primarily on economic inequality. We will explore that state of inequality in the U.S. and the evolution of economic inequality over time. Further, we will investigate the relationship between economic inequality and political inequality, examining how economic inequality affects civic engagement and political participation. Finally, we will explore how and why participation matters for representative democracy, public policy, and governance.
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