Attitudes toward inequality: Racism and other varieties of American exceptionalism

Thomas Frank and Alesina, Di Tella and MacCulloch find working class Americans differing from their European counterparts with regard to issues of economic equality. In a word, indifference if not perversity would seem to dominate the political landscape. Most recently, Lee and Roemer see a deeply ingrained racism as the essential explanation. A view similar to an earlier analysis by Alesina, Edward Glaeser and Sacerdote. Such Becker-like behavior is obviously costly to middle and low income white voters. In this paper I argue that to an extent such seemingly spiteful behavior on the part of Americans (in contrast to their European peers) can be understood by the unique nature of American education and religious practices. It is also the case however, that differential access to the polls may in fact mask the extent of egalitarian sentiment that actually exists among the population, as distinct from those able with access to the voting booth. In this latter sense, American exceptionalism may well flow from an absence of real democracy.