https://at-ceu.studyguide.timeedit.net/modules/POLS5777?type=COREIncreasing economic inequality has been one of the most important phenomena of the last few decades in advanced economies. This course offers a broad overview of the causes and consequences of economic inequality, with a focus on how politics contributes to and is affected by inequality. It considers the effects of economic change, policies, and institutions in creating economic inequality as well as its reciprocal effect on politics, policy choices, and Western societies more generally. We will study how economic inequality and political inequality relate to each other, exploring competing explanations for the rise of inequality, as well as competing understandings of the political consequences of inequality. In doing so, we will primarily focus on European democracies and the United States, but evidence from other countries will be used to contextualize the trends that we observe. Moreover, our discussions will mostly revolve around inequality in terms of income and wealth, but we will also pay some attention to disparities in social status, health, or education and their relationship with gender and ethnicity.