Immigration Attitudes and White Americans’ Responsiveness to Rising Income Inequality

• Author: David Macdonald
• DOI: 10.1177/1532673X20972104
• Published date: 01 March 2021
• Date: 01 March 2021
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X20972104

American Politics Research

2021, Vol. 49(2) 132 –142

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/1532673X20972104

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Article

Despite decades of rising income inequality, decreased eco-

nomic mobility, and minimal wage growth among all but

the most affluent Americans (Bartels, 2016; Chetty et al.,

2017; Pikety et al., 2018), public support for redistribution

has, even among the less affluent, remained largely

unchanged (Kelly & Enns, 2010). This is theoretically puz-

zling (Meltzer & Richard, 1981), given that the mass public

has economic incentives to support greater redistribution

when inequality rises.

Income inequality is politically consequential (Stiglitz,

2012). By unequally distributing political resources

(Schlozman et al., 2012), economic inequality amplifies the

“voice” of the affluent and mutes the “voice” of the non-

affluent (Bartels, 2016; Gilens, 2012; Hacker & Pierson,

2010). In short, economic inequality undermines political

equality. Rising income inequality has also been linked to

decreased participation and civic engagement (Solt, 2010;

Uslaner & Brown, 2005), and increased legislative polariza-

tion and gridlock (Garand, 2010; McCarty et al., 2016; but

see O’Brian, 2019). These are important political outcomes.

As such, a plethora of research has sought to examine if and

when rising inequality prompts people to support policies

that redistribute wealth and reduce income disparities.

Findings, from both observational and experimental designs,

are mixed (Franko, 2016). Furthermore, in the aggregate,

there has been little observed shift in public support for

redistribution over the past several decades, with recent

work documenting a null, or even negative relationship

between inequality and support for economic redistribution

(Kelly & Enns, 2010; Luttig, 2013; Wright, 2018). This is

especially puzzling, given that majorities of Americans pro-

fess to be aware of and opposed to high levels of inequality

(McCall, 2013; Page & Jacobs, 2009).

I argue that this lack of responsiveness is not due to igno-

rance of, nor apathy toward, rising inequality. Rather, it is

due, in part, to attitudes toward immigrants, a negatively ste-

reotyped “out-group” that has become increasingly salient

since the 1970s and that is widely perceived to be a promi-

nent target of redistributive spending. This has been largely

overlooked as an explanation for the aforementioned puzzle,

despite the strong link between immigration and redistribu-

tion in the United States (Filindra, 2013; Garand et al., 2017;

Haselswerdt, 2020; Hawes & McCrea, 2018; Hero & Preuhs,

2007; Xu, 2017).1

To test the relationship between income inequality, immi-

gration attitudes, and support for economic redistribution, I

combine objective state-level data on inequality with indi-

vidual-level attitudes toward immigration and government

redistribution, using data from the 1992-2016 Cumulative

American National Election Study (Cumulative ANES). I

972104APRXXX10.1177/1532673X20972104American Politics ResearchMacdonald

research-article2020

1Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

Corresponding Author:

David Macdonald, Florida State University, 600 W College Ave,

Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.

Email: dmac91788@gmail.com

Immigration Attitudes and White

Americans’ Responsiveness to

Rising Income Inequality

David Macdonald1

Abstract

Despite decades of rising inequality, there has been little observed increase in American public support for redistribution.

This is puzzling because majorities of Americans profess to be aware of and opposed to high inequality. I argue that this lack

of responsiveness is not due to public ignorance of, nor apathy toward, inequality but rather, in part, to negative feelings

toward immigrants, a growing, politically salient, and negatively stereotyped “out-group” that is widely viewed as a target

of redistributive spending. To test this, I combine data on state-level income inequality with survey data from the 1992 to

2016 Cumulative ANES. I find that growing inequality can prompt support for redistribution but that this depends, in part,

on peoples’ immigration attitudes. Overall, these results suggest that immigration has important implications for economic

redistribution in an era of high, and rising inequality.

Keywords

public opinion, income inequality, immigration attitudes, economic redistribution