Social Class and Political Engagement in the United States

The relationship between class and political engagement in the United States is well-established: people with lower incomes, who have less education, or who work outside the professional and managerial occupations do less of all forms of political engagement. They vote less than better-off people, are less likely to give money to candidates, pay less attention to politics, and contact their representatives less often than those with more resources. They are also less likely to believe they can influence political decisions or to feel entitled to participate in politics. This article reviews the dominant (individualist and institutionalist) approaches to explaining inequalities in political participation and highlights recent relational work that offers a more integrated perspective on political engagement and class position.