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Has income inequality or media fragmentation increased political polarization?

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  • John V. Duca
  • Jason L. Saving

Abstract

The increasing polarization of Congressional voting patterns has been attributed to factors including generational shifts, economic conditions, increased media fragmentation, and greater income inequality. The first of these factors is difficult to test with time series data owing to the low frequency of generational shifts, while the tendency of business cycles to reverse suggests that economic cycles are unable to account for long-term shifts in polarization. This leaves two main possible long-run drivers: the increasingly fragmented state of American media as stressed by Prior (2005, 2007) and Duca and Saving (2012a), and increased income inequality, as emphasized by McCarty, Poole, and Rosenthal (2006, forthcoming) and Stiglitz (2012). ; Using statistical techniques suitable for analyzing variables with shifting long-run averages we find evidence indicating that media fragmentation has played a more important role than inequality, at least as tracked by available data and measures. Periods when the share of Americans with access to cable or satellite TV has risen are followed by upward shifts in polarization. Furthermore, our results suggest that the polarization arising from media fragmentation or inequality may make it more difficult to achieve the political consensus needed to address major challenges, such as the long-run fiscal imbalances facing the United States.

Suggested Citation

  • John V. Duca & Jason L. Saving, 2012. "Has income inequality or media fragmentation increased political polarization?," Working Papers 1206, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
  • Handle: RePEc:fip:feddwp:1206
    DOI: 10.24149/wp1206
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    9. Congressional Budget Office, 2012. "Economic Effects of Reducing the Fiscal Restraint That Is Scheduled to Occur in 2013," Reports 43262, Congressional Budget Office.
    10. Andrew Gelman & Lane Kenworthy & Yu-Sung Su, 2010. "Income Inequality and Partisan Voting in the United States," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(s1), pages 1203-1219.
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Book Review: Star Trek, History and Us: Reflections of the Present and Past Throughout the Franchise by A.J. Black. McFarland, 2021
      by Jason Barr in Skynomics Blog on 2021-05-26 12:29:04

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    Cited by:

    1. John V. Duca & Jason L. Saving, 2016. "Income Inequality and Political Polarization: Time Series Evidence Over Nine Decades," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(3), pages 445-466, September.
    2. Giri Parameswaran & Hunter Rendleman, 2022. "Redistribution under general decision rules," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 24(1), pages 159-196, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income inequality; media fragmentation; political polarization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions

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