Rich Democracies, Poor People: How Politics Explain Poverty

277 Pages·2009·0.88 MB·English

by  David Brady

Rich Democracies, Poor People
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RICH DEMOCRACIES, POOR PEOPLE
How Politics Explain Poverty
David Brady
1
2009
3
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Brady,David.
Richdemocracies,poorpeople:howpoliticsexplainpoverty/DavidBrady.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN 978-0-19-538587-8;978-0-19-538591-5(pbk.)
1. Poverty. 2. Poverty—Governmentpolicy. 3. Welfarestate. I. Title.
HC79.P6B6532009
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9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
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Acknowledgments
Likesocialequality,thisbookreallyistheproductofacollectiveeffort.The
experienceofwritingitwasmuchricherbecauseofthefamily,friends,and
colleagueswhohelpedmealongtheway.Ioweagreatdealtoallthosewho
haveofferedsuggestionsandsupport.
Aswithmostprofessors,I’velearnedfarmorefrommystudentsthanthey
could everlearn from me.I’m very gratefulto the Duke students whoread
thisbookaspartofmyclassesPoliticsandMarketsintheGlobalEconomyin
thespringof2008andComparativeSocialStratificationinthefallof2007.
Moreover, I thank current and former students Yunus Kaya, Nate Martin,
Sara Pilzer, Megan Reynolds, and Ben Sosnaud for offering the most de-
tailed, critical, and constructive suggestions on the manuscript. Working
through the ideas in this book was only possible because of the tough-
mindedcriticismsandintellectualenergyofmystudents.
Friendsandcolleagueshavegivenagreatdealoftheirtimetomeandthis
book.IonlyhopeIcanreturnthefavor.AndrewFullerton,DeniseKall,and
Jennifer MorenCross have collaboratedwithme onprojectsrelated to this
book,andthesepartnershipshavecertainlymadethisbookalotbetter.Also,
I received specific suggestions and careful readings by Jason Beckfield,
Judith Blau, Katie Bolzendahl, Mitch Duneier, Mike Ezell, Katy Fallon,
Herbert Gans, Arseniy Gutnik, Alex Hicks, Thomas Hirschl, M.E. Hughes,
Matt Hunt, Kevin Leicht, Nan Lin, Jeff Manza, Jane McLeod, Stephanie
Moller, Phil Morgan, Angie O’Rand, Emilio Parrado, Andrew Payton,
David Reimer, Jason Schnitker, Martin Seeleib-Kaiser, Ken Spenner,
vi Acknowledgments
EdTiryakian,andJohnWilson.Overtheyears,Ihavepresentedportionsof
thisworktoseveralscholarlyaudiences.Amongothers,Ithanktheattendees
at the Duke Sociology Department colloquium, the University of North
Carolina political and cultural sociology workshop, the political economy
workshop at Indiana University, and the MIT-Harvard economic sociology
seminar.
This project began as a dissertation at Indiana University, where I was
veryluckytohaveahostofterrificteachersandfellowstudents.Ithankmy
first-class dissertation committee of Art Alderson, Dave Reingold, and Rob
Robinsonforconstructiveandrigorousguidance.MikeWallacechairedthat
committeeandwasanextraordinarymentor.Mikealwayssethighexpecta-
tions,demandedrigor,tookmeticulouscare,andspentremarkableamounts
oftimeinmydevelopmentasascholar.Ihopethefinalproductissomething
he can be proud of. Few scholars are as lucky as I have been in having a
boosterlikeClemBrooks.Clemhashadanunwavering,limitless,andnever-
endingenthusiasmformywork.Iwouldhaveneverwrittenthisbookhad
Clemnotinsisteditwasworthdoing.Hispassionandenergyforscholarship
andhisenthusiasmandencouragementforstudentsaremymodel.
AtDuke,LisaYoung,ClaudetteParker,GaryThompson,RobMarks,Bob
Jackson,TheresaShouse,JessicaEllington,andJesseRigganhavemademy
jobaloteasierandmorefun.DavidJesuit,TeresaMunzi,EmiliaNiskanen,
and all the members of the Luxembourg Income Study went above and
beyondthecallofdutytohelpmeconducttheanalyses.
Inthefallof2007,anamazingstrokeofgoodluckoccurredwhenImet
JamesCook,myeditoratOxfordUniversityPress.Jameshasbelievedinthis
bookfromdayone,offeredsmarteditingandevenbetterjudgment,andhas
done everything possible to encourage me to write the book I wanted to
write.
MyfamilyhasbeenagreatsourceofsupportinthisbookandeverythingI
do.IthankmyMom,PatBrady,foralwaysencouragingmeandforhavingso
much confidence in what I could accomplish. My wife, Sandra Jaramillo-
Busquets,hasmadeanenormousdifferenceonadailyandlong-termbasis.
Shehasalwaysbeenwillingtohearmythoughtsandhascheerfullytolerated
myobsessionswiththisbook,baseball,andotherthings.ThereisnowayI
could have finished this book without her love, kindness, and encourage-
ment.
JustasIwasbeginningthisproject,myfather,FrankBrady,passedaway
unexpectedly.IcouldneverhavebecomethescholarorpersonIamwithout
him. I can trace my lifelong interest in traveling and other countries and
culturestohim.HetaughtmeeverythingIknowaboutthevaluesofequality
andaloveoflearning.Forthatandsomuchmore,Iwillforeverbegrateful.
JustasIwasfinishingthisproject,myson,DylanBrady,wasborn.Hehas
provided unlimited joy in our lives and taught me to keep everything in
perspective.IhopeIcanpassontohimatleastafractionofwhatmyfather
taughtme.Tomyfatherandson,Idedicatethisbook.
Contents
1. BeyondIndividualism 3
2. RethinkingtheMeasurementofPoverty 23
3. MythicalandRealPatternsinPoverty 45
4. TheWelfareStateandPoverty 70
5. ThePoliticsofPoverty 94
6. ThePovertyofLiberalEconomics 121
7. StructuralTheoryandPoverty 145
8. PoliticizingPoverty 165
Appendix 182
Notes 205
References 229
Index 251
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Rich Democracies, Poor People