ABSTRACT

Bringing together scholars of inequality, both inside and outside of Asia, this book examines how the distribution of income has affected political institutions, representation, and behaviour in Asia.

Through detailed data analysis, the international team of contributors engages with the existing literature, arguing that the connection between inequality and political institutions is much more complex than has been suggested by previous studies from outside the region. Instead, Inequality and Democratic Politics in East Asia demonstrates that the micro-level evidence for the correlation between inequality and democracy is mixed and the impact of distributive politics is conditioned not only by institutional but also by historical and geopolitical factors. As such, this volume suggests that the median voter theorem and simplified partisan models prove to be ineffectual in accounting for distributive politics in East Asia.

Analysing history, structure, and context to further understand the politics of inequality in East Asia, this book will be invaluable to students of Asian politics, as well as students of inequality, democracy, and political economy more widely.

chapter |12 pages

Introduction

part I|1 pages

Inequality and political institutions

chapter 1|19 pages

Inequality, democracy, and the welfare states in East Asia

15Towards a new theoretical proposal to analyse the politics of redistribution

chapter 2|21 pages

Trust, corruption, and inequality

part II|1 pages

Inequality and political support

chapter 4|21 pages

Assessing the inequality-democracy linkage at the individual level

75Evidence from East Asia

chapter 5|20 pages

Equality of opportunity and satisfaction with the political system

The mediating role of regime type

chapter 6|22 pages

Economic inequality and authoritarian legitimacy

The case of�China

part III|1 pages

Inequality and political behaviour