idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Moderated by Wolfgang Merkel
Discussant: Mattias Kumm
Nineteenth-century elites feared that expanding the franchise would lead to substantial downward redistribution of their wealth and income. Some on the left agreed, concluding that there might be a “parliamentary road to socialism.” In the twentieth century, this expectation was formalized as the median voter theorem, which predicts downward redistribution in democratic capitalist systems because median income and wealth is always below average income and wealth, and politicians have strong incentives to be responsive to the median voter. In fact, there is no systematic tendency toward downward redistribution in capitalist democracies, many of which have become more unequal over the past four decades. This is true even in proportional representation systems, which used to be thought more responsive to median voters than single member district systems. Shapiro will discuss theoretical and empirical reasons for these developments, and what can be done about them. He will argue that inequality is best tackled indirectly in democratic politics, by focusing on reducing economic insecurity rather than by trying to build coalitions to tackle inequality head on.
Ian Shapiro is Sterling Professor of Political Science and Henry R. Luce Director of the MacMillan Center at Yale University. He is one of the leading scholars in political theory worldwide. In particular, he is renowned for his contribution to theories of democracy and the state.
The Lecture is part of the WZB Distinguished Lectures in Social Sciences.
Information on participating / attending:
The WZB provides for child care during the lecture. Please respond by November 8, 2018 to Friederike Theilen-Kosch: friederike.theilen-kosch@wzb.eu
Our event location is wheelchair-accessible. If you need support, please inform Friederike Theilen-Kosch: friederike.theilen-kosch@wzb.eu
Date:
11/22/2018 18:00 - 11/22/2018 20:00
Registration deadline:
11/16/2018
Event venue:
Reichpietschufer 50, Room A 300
10785 Berlin
Berlin
Germany
Target group:
Journalists, Scientists and scholars
Email address:
Relevance:
transregional, national
Subject areas:
Economics / business administration, Politics, Social studies
Types of events:
Presentation / colloquium / lecture, Seminar / workshop / discussion
Entry:
11/07/2018
Sender/author:
Dr. Harald Wilkoszewski
Department:
Informations- und Kommunikationsreferat
Event is free:
yes
Language of the text:
English
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event62075
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