ABSTRACT
Not too long ago, Muller (1988) found a mutually beneficial relationship between democracy and egalitarian income distribution. Countries that had been ruled democratically for a long time tended to be more egalitarian; and more equality, in turn, stabilized democracy. However, the data he used covered in large part the third quarter of the twentieth century – a period that has been characterized as the ‘golden age’ (Hobsbawm 1995). During this time, most industrial democracies grew not only more affluent but also became more egalitarian (Judt 2007: chs 10–11). However, since the late 1970s and early 1980s, this trend towards equality has been reversed. First in Anglo-Saxon, then in other advanced democracies, incomes began to grow apart (Atkinson/Piketty 2007; Brandolini/Smeeding 2008). According to the OECD, most member countries have witnessed an increase in inequality between the mid-1980s and today (OECD 2008). In light of these developments, Alderson and Nielsen (2002) speak of the ‘great U-turn’ of income inequality.
