Waubonsee Community College

The crisis of the middle-class constitution, why income inequality threatens our republic, Ganesh Sitaraman

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

index present

non fiction

The crisis of the middle-class constitution

bibliography

989962323

Ganesh Sitaraman

why income inequality threatens our republic

"For most of Western history, Sitaraman argues, constitutional thinkers assumed economic inequality was inevitable and inescapable--and they designed governments to prevent class divisions from spilling over into class warfare. The American Constitution is different. Compared to Europe and the ancient world, America was a society of almost unprecedented economic equality, and the founding generation saw this equality as essential for the preservation of America's republic. Over the next two centuries, generations of Americans fought to sustain the economic preconditions for our constitutional system. But today, with economic and political inequality on the rise, Sitaraman says Americans face a choice: Will we accept rising economic inequality and risk oligarchy or will we rebuild the middle class and reclaim our republic?"--Page [4] of cover

Pt. I. The radicalism of the American Constitution -- From Athens to America : the two traditions -- America's middle-class constitution -- pt. II. A brief history of the middle-class constitution. The emergence of the plutocracy -- The search for solutions -- pt. III. The crisis of the middle-class constitution -- How economic inequality threatens the republic -- The future of the middle-class constitution