Levels of income inequality in the U.S. have historically been higher than in other democracies. Today, 15% of Americans live below the federal poverty line. Meanwhile, the richest 1% of the population owns 40% of the nation’s wealth. Large corporations and special interest groups have significant political influence over elected officials, and organizations that represent the wealthiest Americans pay thousands of lobbyists in efforts to influence lawmakers.

should assess the topics of economic inequality and political inequality In three ways:

1) Describe the present level of economic inequality that exists in the United States using data and demonstrate how levels of economic inequality have changed in recent years. Why has economic inequality in the United States increased dramatically since the late 1970s?

2) What is the connection between economic inequality and political inequality? Does economic inequality affect the quality of American democracy? How?

3) Finally, propose how Americans might address the related problems of economic and political inequality in the U.S. What are some policies that might improve the current state of affairs?

Guideline

Length: The paper should be 4-5 pages in length.

Format: Papers must be typed and double-spaced. Use standard margins (“normal”

margin setting in MS Word) and a common 12-point font (Times New Roman, Arial,

Calibri, etc.). Papers that do not use standard margins or a widely used 12-point font will

be penalized.

Title Page: All papers must have a title page with the student’s name, UID#, and e-mail.

Citations: Cite sources that you use to write your essay. If you quote an author directly,

you must use quotation marks around their words and cite the quotation. Do not use block

quotes (long quotations) in your paper. You may cite as many sources as you like, but do

not use more than four direct quotations in your paper.