Prentice Hall PoliticalScience Interactive

1. Prentice HallPoliticalScienceInteractive Thomas R. Dye Politics in America Chapter 2 Special Topic Income Inequality in the United States

2. Political Equality Equality of opportunity Equality in Politics legal equality Equality of results Equality in Economics Dilemmas of Equality Versus Versus Versus

3. Types of Equality If we had to divide a cake among a group of people, how could we do so in a way that ensures equality? Equality of Process Set the cake in the middle of the room, put everyone an equal distance from it, and let everyone try to take as much as they want Equality of Outcomes Count the number of people who want the cake and divide the whole cake by that number

4. Inequality of Income and Wealth Income and wealth differences between the “haves” and the “have-nots” increased in America during the 1980s and early 1990s

5. Income Inequality in Democratic Society What are the implications of an unequal distribution of income for a society’s democratic stability?

6. Inequality of Income and Wealth Shares of Total Household Income Received by Highest and Lowest Income Groups

7. Class Most Americans, when asked what class they belong to, say “middle class.” Very few see themselves as lower class or upper class

8. Tax Equity Should the wealthy be taxed at a higher rate--a more progressive rate--in order to provide more services for the poor?

9. Expenditures: Income Security The government tries to provide a safety net for the most vulnerable members of society through the following programs Earned-income credit Child tax credit Supplemental security income Unemployment income Food stamps

10. Power and Social Welfare Less than one-third of federal social welfare spending is means-tested spending

11. Poverty in the United States How much poverty exists in the United States? Temporary Poverty Versus Persistent Poverty

12. Births to Unmarried Women Births to teenage mothers have declined in recent years.

13. The “Truly Disadvantaged” The inner city has become the principle location of virtually all of the social problems confronting our society

14. Who are the Poor?

15. Social Welfare Policy Medicaid Entitlements Social Security Unemployment Compensation Supplemental Security Income Family Assistance Food Stamps Earned Income Credit

16. Social Welfare Policy Most of America’s social welfare programs began in either the Great Depression of the 1930s or the War on Poverty in the 1960s

17. Homelessness in America The current plight of homeless people is primarily the result of various “reforms” in public policy • “deinstitutionalization” of care for mentally ill • “decriminalization” of vagrancy and public intoxication • urban renewal

18. Public Opinion:Beliefs About Fairness Q. Some people say there’s not much opportunity in America today--that the average person doesn’t have much chance to really get ahead. Others say there’s plenty of opportunity and anyone who works hard can go as far as they want. How do you feel about this? • Plenty of opportunity 81% • Not much opportunity 17 • Don’t know 2 (Responses to a Gallup Poll)

19. Social Mobility • Social mobility: the extent to which people move upward or downward in income and status over a lifetime or over generations • The American belief in the possibility for social mobility may reduce the potential for class conflict because it tends to diminish feelings of class consciousness

20. Success is Determined by the Bell Curve • Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray, The Bell Curve • Argues that general intelligence largely determines success in life and that this intelligence is mostly genetic • Are social classes and elitism inevitable, as they claim?