The Unheavenly Chorus : Unequal Political Voice and the Broken Promise of American Democracy

Why American democracy favors the affluent and educated Politically active individuals and organizations make huge investments of time, energy, and money to influence everything from election outcomes to congressional subcommittee hearings to local school politics, while other groups and individual citizens seem woefully underrepresented in our political system. The Unheavenly Chorus is the most comprehensive and systematic examination of political voice in America ever undertaken—and its findings are sobering. The Unheavenly Chorus is the first book to look at the political participation of individual citizens alongside the political advocacy of thousands of organized interests—membership associations such as unions, professional associations, trade associations, and citizens groups, as well as organizations like corporations, hospitals, and universities. Drawing on numerous in-depth surveys of members of the public as well as the largest database of interest organizations ever created—representing more than thirty-five thousand organizations over a twenty-five-year period—this book conclusively demonstrates that American democracy is marred by deeply ingrained and persistent class-based political inequality. The well educated and affluent are active in many ways to make their voices heard, while the less advantaged are not. This book reveals how the political voices of organized interests are even less representative than those of individuals, how political advantage is handed down across generations, how recruitment to political activity perpetuates and exaggerates existing biases, how political voice on the Internet replicates these inequalities—and more. In a true democracy, the preferences and needs of all citizens deserve equal consideration. Yet equal consideration is only possible with equal citizen voice. The Unheavenly Chorus reveals how far we really are from the democratic ideal and how hard it would be to attain it. Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 8 List of Figures 10 List of Tables 14 Preface 18 Acknowledgments 26 1. Introduction: Democracy and Political Voice 34 PART I: Thinking about Inequality and Political Voice 62 2. The (Ambivalent) Tradition of Equality in America 64 3. The Context: Growing Economic Inequality and Weakening Unions 102 4. Equal Voice and the Dilemmas of Democracy 129 PART II: Inequality of Political Voice and Individual Participation 148 5. Does Unequal Voice Matter? 150 6. The Persistence of Unequal Voice 180 7. Unequal at the Starting Line: The Intergenerational Persistence of Political Inequality 210 8. Political Participation over the Life Cycle 232 9. Political Activism and Electoral Democracy: Perspectives on Economic Inequality and Political Polarization 265 PART III: Inequality of Political Voice and Organized Interest Activity 296 10. Political Voice through Organized Interests: Introductory Matters 298 11. Who Sings in the Heavenly Chorus? The Shape of the Organized Interest System 345 12. The Changing Pressure Community 380 13. Beyond Organizational Categories 403 14. Political Voice through Organized Interest Activity 426 PART IV: Can We Change the Accent of the Unheavenly Chorus? 478 15. Breaking the Pattern through Political Recruitment 480 16. Weapon of the Strong? Participatory Inequality and the Internet 516 17. What, if Anything, Is to Be Done? 567 18. Conclusion: Equal Voice and the Promise of American Democracy 607 Appendixes 636 Appendix A: Equality and the State and U.S. Constitutions 638 Appendix B: The Persistence of Political and Nonpolitical Activity 641 Appendix C: The Intergenerational Transmission of Political Participation 649 Appendix D: Age, Period, and Cohort Effects 652 Appendix E: The Washington Representatives Database 654 Appendix F: Additional Tables 678 Appendix G: Do Online and Offline Political Activists Differ from One Another? 682 Index 688 A 688 B 690 C 692 D 695 E 696 F 698 G 699 H 700 I 702 J 703 K 704 L 704 M 708 N 710 O 711 P 713 R 717 S 719 T 722 U 723 V 724 W 725 X 726 Y 726 Z 726

Politically active individuals and organizations make huge investments of time, energy, and money to influence everything from election outcomes to congressional subcommittee hearings to local school politics, while other groups and individual citizens seem woefully underrepresented in our political system. The Unheavenly Chorus is the most comprehensive and systematic examination of political voice in America ever undertaken-and its findings are sobering.

The Unheavenly Chorus is the first book to look at the political participation of individual citizens alongside the political advocacy of thousands of organized interests-membership associations such as unions, professional associations, trade associations, and citizens groups, as well as organizations like corporations, hospitals, and universities. Drawing on numerous in-depth surveys of members of the public as well as the largest database of interest organizations ever created-representing more than thirty-five thousand organizations over a twenty-five-year period-this book conclusively demonstrates that American democracy is marred by deeply ingrained and persistent class-based political inequality. The well educated and affluent are active in many ways to make their voices heard, while the less advantaged are not. This book reveals how the political voices of organized interests are even less representative than those of individuals, how political advantage is handed down across generations, how recruitment to political activity perpetuates and exaggerates existing biases, how political voice on the Internet replicates these inequalities-and more.

In a true democracy, the preferences and needs of all citizens deserve equal consideration. Yet equal consideration is only possible with equal citizen voice. The Unheavenly Chorus reveals how far we really are from the democratic ideal and how hard it would be to attain it.

"Politically active individuals and organizations make huge investments of time, energy, and money to influence everything from election outcomes to congressional subcommittee hearings to local school politics, while other groups and individual citizens seem woefully underrepresented in our political system. The Unheavenly Chorus is the most comprehensive and systematic examination of political voice in America ever undertaken--and its findings are sobering. The Unheavenly Chorus is the first book to look at the political participation of individual citizens alongside the political advocacy of thousands of organized interests--membership associations such as unions, professional associations, trade associations, and citizens groups, as well as organizations like corporations, hospitals, and universities. Drawing on numerous in-depth surveys of members of the public as well as the largest database of interest organizations ever created--representing more than thirty-five thousand organizations over a twenty-five-year period--this book conclusively demonstrates that American democracy is marred by deeply ingrained and persistent class-based political inequality. The well educated and affluent are active in many ways to make their voices heard, while the less advantaged are not. This book reveals how the political voices of organized interests are even less representative than those of individuals, how political advantage is handed down across generations, how recruitment to political activity perpetuates and exaggerates existing biases, how political voice on the Internet replicates these inequalities--and more. In a true democracy, the preferences and needs of all citizens deserve equal consideration. Yet equal consideration is only possible with equal citizen voice. The Unheavenly Chorus reveals how far we really are from the democratic ideal and how hard it would be to attain it"--Publisher description Politically active individuals and organizations make huge investments of time, energy, and money to influence everything from election outcomes to congressional subcommittee hearings to local school politics, while other groups and individual citizens seem woefully underrepresented in our political system. This book is a comprehensive and systematic examination of political voice in America, and its findings are sobering. The book looks at the political participation of individual citizens alongside the political advocacy of thousands of organized interests—membership associations such as unions, professional associations, trade associations, and citizens groups, as well as organizations like corporations, hospitals, and universities. Drawing on numerous in-depth surveys of members of the public as well as the largest database of interest organizations ever created—representing more than 35,000 organizations over a 25-year period—this book conclusively demonstrates that American democracy is marred by deeply ingrained and persistent class-based political inequality. The well-educated and affluent are active in many ways to make their voices heard, while the less advantaged are not. This book reveals how the political voices of organized interests are even less representative than those of individuals, how political advantage is handed down across generations, how recruitment to political activity perpetuates and exaggerates existing biases, how political voice on the Internet replicates these inequalities—and more. In a true democracy, the preferences and needs of all citizens deserve equal consideration. Yet equal consideration is only possible with equal citizen voice. This book reveals how far we really are from the democratic ideal and how hard it would be to attain it. Examining the current state of democracy in the United States, 'The Unheavenly Chorus' looks at the political participation of individual citizens - alongside the political advocacy of thousands of organized interests - in order to demonstrate that American democracy is marred by ingrained and persistent class-based inequality Looks at the political participation of individual citizens alongside the political advocacy of thousands of organized interests - membership associations such as unions, professional associations, trade associations, and citizens groups, as well as organizations like corporations, hospitals, and universities.