A Cross-National Test of the Linkage Between Economic Inequality and Political Violence

Abstract

This study brings together for empirical testing three theoretical perspectives on the relationship between economic inequality and political violence. Using newly-available cross-national data on personal income inequality, we discover a moderate linear relationship between inequality and violence; neither curvilinear perspective on the inequality-violence linkage (the and the inverse V-curve hypotheses) receives even moderate support. Introducing four additional explanatory variables-relating to affluence, heterogeneity, social mobility, and rate of social change-does nothing whatsoever to bolster the explanatory power of income inequality.

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