ABSTRACT
This chapter first presents the basic model; then hypotheses are developed about class formation in ethnically homogeneous societies; and finally it analyses the effects of ethnic heterogeneity on income inequality. It develops specific hypotheses about the relations between class stratification and ethnic differentiation and their impact on economic inequality. Ethnic stratification is an extremely complex and variegated phenomenon if one looks at the present-day world as a whole. Proponents of the nomothetic view argue that the social sciences should follow the model of the natural sciences, that is, develop general concepts and universally valid theories, deduce hypotheses from them and submit them to empirical testing. The 'political sociology of social inequality' must be a central element of any theory of economic and social inequality. pluralistic theory assumes that in modern democracies all group and class interests have similar chances to organize themselves and to gain influence on politics.
