Larry Bartels
Encyclopedia
Larry Martin Bartels is an American
political scientist
.
Bartels is the Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions and Shayne Chair in Public Policy and Social Science at Vanderbilt University
. He is formerly the Donald E. Stokes Professor of public policy and internation relations and founding director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
at Princeton University
. Before moving to Princeton he taught at the University of Rochester
.
in 1978, his M.A. in political science, also from Yale, in 1978, and his Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley
in 1983. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1995. He has published three books, Unequal democracy: the political economy of the new gilded age (Princeton, 2008), Campaign reform: Insights and evidence, edited with Lynn Vavreck (University of Michigan Press, 2000), and Presidential primaries and the dynamics of public choice (Princeton, 1988). According to his official biography,
He is well-known for his rebuttal to Thomas Frank
's What's the Matter with Kansas?
, entitled What's the matter with What's the matter with Kansas published in the Quarterly Journal of Political Science in 2006. While Frank asserts that the conservative Republican party
has been able to lure working class voters away from the liberal Democratic Party
, which better represents their economic interests, with value issues, such as abortion
and same-sex marriage
, Bartels points out that the working class, despite being socially more conservative, is still overwhelmingly Democratic - more so than in the past. In his empirical analysis Bartels finds that both, college graduates and working class people are mostly Democratic (the former having become more Democratic over the past years). He attributes the gain made by Republicans to the loss of the solid South, with middle and high income whites from Southern states, standing out as having become more Republican.
In his 2008 book, Unequal Democracy: The political economy of the new gilded age", Bartels demonstrates that income inequality expanded under Republican presidential administrations and narrowed under Democratic presidential administrations since the early 1970s, when income inequality first started to expand. Under Republican presidents, rich families saw substantial net gains in their income, while poorer families saw negligible gains, producing a significant net increase in income inequality. By contrast, under Democratic presidents, poor families did slightly better than rich families proportionally, lessening income inequality. But, all income brackets---from the bottom twenty percent to the top five percent of the population---saw significantly greater increases in income under Democratic presidents than under Republican presidents. In other words, had Democratic presidents been in office since the 1970s, income inequality may have lessened since the 1950s, not grown into what Bartels calls "The New Gilded Age" of the early 21st century. Bartels's findings led him to conclude that "economic inequality is, in substantial part, a political phenomenon."
James Campbell
, a political science professor at the University of Buffalo, pointed out what he believes to be a methodological flaw in Bartels' work: his failure to take into account the economic climate at the time the president took office. By controlling for the economic climate at the time the president took office, Campbell argued that, contrary to Bartels' conclusions, there was no noticeable difference between the economic performance under Democratic and Republican presidents.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
political scientist
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
.
Bartels is the Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions and Shayne Chair in Public Policy and Social Science at Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
. He is formerly the Donald E. Stokes Professor of public policy and internation relations and founding director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school has granted undergraduate A.B. degrees since 1930 and graduate degrees since 1948...
at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. Before moving to Princeton he taught at the University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
.
Biography
Bartels received his B.A. in political science from Yale CollegeYale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...
in 1978, his M.A. in political science, also from Yale, in 1978, and his Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
in 1983. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1995. He has published three books, Unequal democracy: the political economy of the new gilded age (Princeton, 2008), Campaign reform: Insights and evidence, edited with Lynn Vavreck (University of Michigan Press, 2000), and Presidential primaries and the dynamics of public choice (Princeton, 1988). According to his official biography,
His first book, Presidential Primaries and the Dynamics of Public Choice (Princeton University Press, 1988), received the American Political Science Association's Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award for the year's best book on government, politics, or international affairs. He has also received the APSA's Franklin L. Burdette and E. E. Schattschneider Awards and the Best Paper Award from the Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior Section (three times), as well as major grants and fellowships from the Carnegie Corporation, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the Social Science Research Council. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1995.
He is well-known for his rebuttal to Thomas Frank
Thomas Frank
Thomas Frank is an American author, journalist and columnist for Harper's Magazine. He is a former columnist for the Wall Street Journal, authoring "The Tilting Yard" from 2008 to 2010....
's What's the Matter with Kansas?
What's the Matter with Kansas?
What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America is a book by American journalist and historian Thomas Frank, which explores the rise of populist anti-elitist Conservatism in the United States, centering on the experience of Kansas, Frank's native state...
, entitled What's the matter with What's the matter with Kansas published in the Quarterly Journal of Political Science in 2006. While Frank asserts that the conservative Republican party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
has been able to lure working class voters away from the liberal Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, which better represents their economic interests, with value issues, such as abortion
Abortion in the United States
Abortion in the United States has been legal in every state since the United States Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, on January 22, 1973...
and same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage in the United States
The federal government does not recognize same-sex marriage in the United States, but such marriages are recognized by some individual states. The lack of federal recognition was codified in 1996 by the Defense of Marriage Act, before Massachusetts became the first state to grant marriage licenses...
, Bartels points out that the working class, despite being socially more conservative, is still overwhelmingly Democratic - more so than in the past. In his empirical analysis Bartels finds that both, college graduates and working class people are mostly Democratic (the former having become more Democratic over the past years). He attributes the gain made by Republicans to the loss of the solid South, with middle and high income whites from Southern states, standing out as having become more Republican.
In his 2008 book, Unequal Democracy: The political economy of the new gilded age", Bartels demonstrates that income inequality expanded under Republican presidential administrations and narrowed under Democratic presidential administrations since the early 1970s, when income inequality first started to expand. Under Republican presidents, rich families saw substantial net gains in their income, while poorer families saw negligible gains, producing a significant net increase in income inequality. By contrast, under Democratic presidents, poor families did slightly better than rich families proportionally, lessening income inequality. But, all income brackets---from the bottom twenty percent to the top five percent of the population---saw significantly greater increases in income under Democratic presidents than under Republican presidents. In other words, had Democratic presidents been in office since the 1970s, income inequality may have lessened since the 1950s, not grown into what Bartels calls "The New Gilded Age" of the early 21st century. Bartels's findings led him to conclude that "economic inequality is, in substantial part, a political phenomenon."
James Campbell
James Campbell
James Campbell, Esq. was the founder of the Estate of James Campbell, one of the largest and wealthiest landowners in the United States Territory of Hawaii and in the state of Hawaii until 2007...
, a political science professor at the University of Buffalo, pointed out what he believes to be a methodological flaw in Bartels' work: his failure to take into account the economic climate at the time the president took office. By controlling for the economic climate at the time the president took office, Campbell argued that, contrary to Bartels' conclusions, there was no noticeable difference between the economic performance under Democratic and Republican presidents.