Class Attitudes in America by Piston Spencer

Author:Piston, Spencer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2018-03-21T16:00:00+00:00

Figure 6.9 Resentment of the rich is positively associated with warmth toward Sanders but not warmth toward Clinton (2016 Qualtrics Survey)

The y-axis indicates predicted warmth toward Sanders (6.9a) and Clinton (6.9b); the x-axis indicates resentment of the rich. The figures are based on regression analyses presented in Appendix 6f.

Until now, political scientists have been poorly equipped to assess the effects of Sanders’ unique campaign strategy. Many of us would have joined political pundits in predicting that his anti-rich campaigning would fall on deaf ears. I know this because of reactions I encountered when presenting earlier versions of this research project. In early 2011, my survey analyses began to uncover evidence of widespread beliefs among the American public that rich people have more than they deserve, and I began to present these results to audiences of political scientists. One reaction I received from political scientists (and many others) was that these findings cannot possibly be correct. This skepticism was puzzling to me, so I would often ask why the survey results should be disbelieved. The most common response I received was that if most Americans did believe that rich people have more than they deserve, politicians would use anti-rich rhetoric to get elected. This criticism is reminiscent of the old joke in which a regular person and an economist are walking down the street, and the regular person says “Hey, look, there’s a $20 bill!” to which the economist replies, “That’s impossible. If it really were a $20 bill, somebody would have picked it up.” In this analogy, the $20 bill – anti-rich sentiment – was out there,49 but many political scientists were unable to see it until Sanders picked it up.

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