Topic
Upper class
About: Upper class is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 774 publications have been published within this topic receiving 17363 citations.
Papers published on a yearly basis
1 / 2
Papers
Book•
1 Jan 1992
TL;DR: In this article, the authors find that the rise and persistence of democracy cannot be explained either by an overall structural correspondence between capitalism and democracy or by the role of the bourgeoisie as the agent of democratic reform.
Abstract: It is a commonplace claim of Western political discourse that capitalist development and democracy go hand in hand. Crossnational statistical research on political democracy supports this claim. By contrast, comparative historical studies carried out within a political economy approach argue that economic development was and is compatible with multiple political forms. The authors offer a fresh and persuasive resolution to the controversy arising out of these contrasting traditions. Focusing on advanced industrial countries, Latin America, and the Caribbean, they find that the rise and persistence of democracy cannot be explained either by an overall structural correspondence between capitalism and democracy or by the role of the bourgeoisie as the agent of democratic reform. Rather, capitalist development is associated with democracy because it transforms the class structure, enlarging the working and middle classes, facilitating their self-organization, and thus making it more difficult for elites to exclude them. Simultaneously, development weakens the landed upper class, democracy's most consistent opponent. The relationship of capitalist development to democracy, however, is not mechanical. As the authors show, it depends on a complex interplay of three clusters of power: the balance of power among social classes, power relations between the state and society, and transnational structures of economic and political power. Looking to the future, the book concludes with some reflections on current prospects for the development of stable democracy in Latin America and Eastern Europe.
2,000 citations
TL;DR: Mediator and moderator data showed that lower class individuals acted in a more prosocial fashion because of a greater commitment to egalitarian values and feelings of compassion, and implications for social class, prosocial behavior, and economic inequality are discussed.
Abstract: Lower social class (or socioeconomic status) is associated with fewer resources, greater exposure to threat, and a reduced sense of personal control. Given these life circumstances, one might expect lower class individuals to engage in less prosocial behavior, prioritizing self-interest over the welfare of others. The authors hypothesized, by contrast, that lower class individuals orient to the welfare of others as a means to adapt to their more hostile environments and that this orientation gives rise to greater prosocial behavior. Across 4 studies, lower class individuals proved to be more generous (Study 1), charitable (Study 2), trusting (Study 3), and helpful (Study 4) compared with their upper class counterparts. Mediator and moderator data showed that lower class individuals acted in a more prosocial fashion because of a greater commitment to egalitarian values and feelings of compassion. Implications for social class, prosocial behavior, and economic inequality are discussed.
1,438 citations
Book•
3 May 2000
TL;DR: The Rise of the Educated Class as discussed by the authors is a seminal work in the history of education and the development of the modern world, which is also referred to as "the rise of the educated class".
Abstract: Contents Introduction 1 * The Rise of the Educated Class 2 * Consumption 3 * Business Life 4 * Intellectual Life 5 * Pleasure 6 * Spiritual Life 7 * Politics and Beyond Acknowledgments Index
664 citations
Book•
1 Jan 2012TL;DR: In "Coming Apart," Charles Murray explores the formation of American classes that are different in kind from anything we have ever known, focusing on whites as a way of driving home the fact that the trends he describes do not break along lines of race or ethnicity.
Abstract: From the bestselling author of Lo"sing Ground" and "The Bell Curve," this startling long-lens view shows how America is coming apart at the seams that historically have joined our classes. In "Coming Apart," Charles Murray explores the formation of American classes that are different in kind from anything we have ever known, focusing on whites as a way of driving home the fact that the trends he describes do not break along lines of race or ethnicity. Drawing on five decades of statistics and research, "Coming Apart" demonstrates that a new upper class and a new lower class have diverged so far in core behaviors and values that they barely recognize their underlying American kinship--divergence that has nothing to do with income inequality and that has grown during good economic times and bad. The top and bottom of white America increasingly live in different cultures, Murray argues, with the powerful upper class living in enclaves surrounded by their own kind, ignorant about life in mainstream America, and the lower class suffering from erosions of family and community life that strike at the heart of the pursuit of happiness. That divergence puts the success of the American project at risk. The evidence in "Coming Apart" is about white America. Its message is about all of America.
469 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 |
| 2024 | 7 |
| 2023 | 24 |
| 2022 | 24 |
| 2021 | 19 |
| 2020 | 25 |