Public Opinion, Representation, and Inequality: A Review Article

Andrew J. Taylor's A Tolerance for Inequality is an important book that offers a detailed and empirically rich assessment of U.S. public opinion and its relationship to economic policy. Taylor adds to mounting evidence that the political science conventional wisdom drastically overstates unequal responsiveness in the U.S. political system. My review situates Taylor's evidence within the broader literature and argues that the affluent—as defined by political scientists—do not dominate politically. I also reconsider Taylor's claim that low-income individuals have more varied economic preferences than high-income individuals. Here, I suggest a different conclusion than Taylor, but my findings align with Taylor's overall argument that economic policy tends to follow public opinion. In the conclusion, I emphasize that multiple pathways exist that can generate representational inequalities, but the existing empirical evidence does not support the claim that policy in the United States systematically ignores average citizens.