Economic Inequality And Political Conflict

This thesis uses cross-country data to investigate the relationship between economic inequality and political attitudes and conflict. Specifically, it regresses preferences for radical societal change and political violence and instability on income inequality. A 10-percentage point increase in inequality is expected to increase the likelihood of preferring radical societal change by 50.56 percentage points, and the likelihood of political conflict by 1.233 points on a 5-point scale. An inverted-U shape relationship is found between income inequality and both political attitudes and political conflict. An increase in change-preferences increases the likelihood of political conflict in following years. A 10-percentage point increase in desiring change is associated with an increase in the likelihood of violence and instability of 0.663 points on a 5-point scale in the first year, and 0.348, 0.420 and 3.95 in subsequent years. In sum, economic inequality contributes positively, up to a point, to the likelihood of political unrest.