Unequal Democracy

Across six decades of evidence, Larry M. Bartels traces the widening gap between rich and poor in America to political choices, not just economic forces. Inequality, he finds, grew sharply under Republican presidents and narrowed slightly under Democrats, as Republican administrations delivered far less income growth to middle-class and working-poor families than to the affluent. Elected officials respond to wealthy constituents and ignore the poor. His case studies include the erosion of the minimum wage and the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003. Bartels also disputes the idea that abortion and gay marriage pulled working-class voters rightward, arguing that Republican presidents timed income growth to suit short-sighted voters. A second edition added two chapters on the Obama years.

It is on a list of every book Barack Obama recommended while he was president.