Conceptualizing and Measuring Political Inequality in a Cross-National Perspective

It is widely believed that economic inequality significantly affects political inequality, and vice versa. However, there has been a lack of empirical evidence about this relationship, particularly, in cross-national comparative research. This is largely because cross-national measures of political inequality are underdeveloped. To fill this gap, this study introduces a new way of conceptualizing and measuring political inequality and constructs the Political Inequality Index (PII), which is mainly based on objective indicators. Additionally, the Political Power Inequality Index (PPII) based on subjective indicators is presented as an alternative measure. This research then explores the features of these measures and investigates the impact of economic inequality on political inequality with the measures. The dynamic panel data analysis controlling for endogeneity provides little evidence that income inequality has a significant effect on political inequality, however.

学界普遍认为，经济不平等会显著影响政治不平等，反之亦然。然而，二者间的关联缺乏实证支撑，在跨国比较研究领域尤为如此。这在很大程度上是由于当前政治不平等的跨国测度体系尚不完善。为填补这一研究空白，本研究提出了一种全新的政治不平等概念化与测度路径，并构建了以客观指标为核心的政治不平等指数（Political Inequality Index, PII）。此外，本研究还提出了基于主观指标的政治权力不平等指数（Political Power Inequality Index, PPII）作为替代测度方案。随后，本研究对上述两类测度工具的特征展开分析，并依托该测度体系探究经济不平等对政治不平等的影响。不过，通过控制内生性问题的动态面板数据分析，几乎未发现收入不平等对政治不平等存在显著影响的实证证据。