Income and Perceptions of Democracy

By Connor Bennet
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Hypothesis
If people associate with a higher scale of income, then they are more likely to consider the country to be run very democratically.
Null
​There is no relationship between, or a lack of data to represent, a persons associated level of income and their opinion of how democratically the country is being governed. 
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Related Scholarly Works
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James Avery's writing,“Does Who Votes Matter? Income Bias in Voter Turnout and Economic Inequality in the American States from 1980 to 2010”, contributes to my research by highlighting the changes to our political arena over the last three decades. Much evidence has been gathered on the rising inequality of voters, and the disparity in representation that low income citizens receive in the political process (Avery, 2015). The ways in which the public can participate in the democratic process rely heavily on their economic advantages (Avery, 2015). Most notably, people of a higher economic class are more able to contribute income toward campaigns and special interest groups, while people of a lower economic status are less capable of using incomes to further their political preferences (Avery, 2015). The article provides insight to why people may consider the country being run more democratically when they associate with a higher socioeconomic status. 

Daniel Laurison's work,“The Willingness to State an Opinion: Inequality, Don’t Know Responses, and Political Participation”, uncovers the relationship between individuals' economic status, their responses to political surveys, and their likelihood of voting. The author found that lower income individuals are more reluctant to express political opinions (Laurison, 2015). It is also found that participants who provide "Don't know" answers on surveys are far less likely to participate in voting (Laurison, 2015). The author contributes these factors to income. It's found that income leads to high levels of participation by increasing ones ability to understand and engage in politics, as well as enhancing ones sense of self to construct political opinions (Laurison, 2015). From the reading it could be understood that individuals of lower incomes feel detached from the political arena and are then less likely to become involved (Laurison, 2015). If people of a lower economic status tend to not associate in democratic processes then it is logical to predict that income plays a substantial role in how democratically one thinks the country is being governed. 

Importance
As inequality in United States, and elsewhere, continues to rise, it is crucial to the foundation of democratic qualities that we have a participatory voting population that is in agreement with how the institution is being run. If income is a determinate of how people view democracy, then the system is broken. Rather than being influenced by the people, it would seem that the institution it is truly only being driven by the select few fortunate enough to attain a higher socioeconomic status. 

Measurement​
​The variables chosen in my regression were scale of incomes, and how democratically the respondent felt the country was being governed. Both variables were gathered from the World Value Survey using 2011 United States survey respondents. In the questionnaire, both variables were assigned a sliding scale of one to ten with one being not at all democratic and the lowest income level, and 10 being completely democratic and the highest level of income. The independent variable, scale of incomes, is a subjective measurement that does not assign real values to its question. This leaves respondents to choose where exactly they feel they belong within society without being broken into specific income brackets. The dependent variable, how democratically the country is being governed, was chosen for its ability to show the approval of the current political structure. Comparing the two variables would show whether there is any correlation between income and democratic approval. 
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Data

Findings
After running a difference of means and regression on the variables I came up with a positive correlation of .162** and statistically significant p-value < .05. In the difference of means it is seen that the average respondent increases the value of how democratically they feel the country is being governed as their scale of income increases. With this finding, I am able to reject the null hypothesis and show a positive correlation between a respondents income and how democratically they view their country. The subjectivety of income scales without specified numbers could have been a factor in the outcome if this data. In doing further research I would like to compare responses with specified income brackets to determine if peoples perception of wealth are greater or lower than what they truly are. If this is the case then the data may be representing  a correlation of other social and physiological variables rather than income. 

Works Cited 

• Avery, James. 2015. “Does Who Votes Matter? Income Bias in Voter Turnout and Economic Inequality in the American States from 1980 to 2010.” Political Behavior 37 (4): 955–76. doi:10.1007/s11109-015-9302-z.
• Laurison, Daniel. 2015. “The Willingness to State an Opinion: Inequality, Don’t Know Responses, and Political Participation.” Sociological Forum 30 (4): 925–48. doi:10.1111/socf.12202.
• “United States 2011.” WVS Database, n.d. http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWV6.jsp.