ABSTRACT
During early struggles to extend the right to vote, some affluent Americans feared that newly empowered lower-income majorities would seize and redistribute their wealth. Despite periodic alarms, no such wholesale redistribution has occurred. In fact there is little sign of class-based politics or of highly egalitarian social welfare policies in the U.S. It’s a puzzle. Why don’t the poorest 50 percent + 1 of Americans band together and outvote the affluent minority?
