PS 401 Political Inequality: Measures, Causes, Effects and Remedies

Political equality is a normative ideal, and is thought to have positive consequences on people’s socio-economic outcomes such as income, health and education.  As a result, many societies have sought to correct political inequality through various remedies, including electoral quotas.  In this course, we will review what political inequality is, and examine how scholars have measured it, and studied its causes, effects and remedies.  The course will focus on inequalities in political participation and representation.