Cultural, Economic, and Institutional Inequality in the US - Assignment Example

Cultural, Economic, and Institutional Inequality in the United StatesThis research paper will seek to answer the research question: what are the main reasons for cultural, economic, and institutional inequality in the United States? To answer this question, the paper will be guided by the disciplines of sociology and public policy. Using sociology, the paper will explore inequality in the United States with regards to its causes and results using concepts and theories that help in understanding equality.

Social inequalities sustained by various institutions, including labour markets, education, and the criminal justice system (Pontusson 23), which will also be covered under the sociology field. While using the public policy field, it will be possible to have a deeper understanding about how the political economy in the US is organized. Within these fields, the focus will mainly be on the wealth and poverty in the United States with regards to public policy, as well as social inequalities in the US with regards to sociology.

This research will be important to a wider audience because there has been a significant increase in cultural, economic, and institutional inequality in the United States since the mid 70s. The United States for a long time has been one of the most unequal countries among the developed countries in the world. However, the cultural and economic upheaval that started in the seventies acted as a stark departure from the movement that had sought to push for more equality after the Great Depression and into the Second World War (Pontusson 41).

The push for equality had been a core feature of public policy in the thirty years after WWII and its reversal consequences of this reversal should be of importance. In addition, this research paper is important because it will deal with a pertinent issue in American society today. Despite the magnitude with which inequality has risen in the United States, it seems that political discourse only refers obliquely to inequality in the United States. Debate in the public arena, neither acknowledges the scale and widespread nature of inequality in the United States, nor does it discuss why these sustained, and sudden changes have occurred in a serious and focused manner (Pontusson 42).

This research paper will seek to expand, on policy recommendations, to reverse the trend of economic inequality in the United States, providing an alternate view of the period after World War 2, particularly the last thirty years. The reason that the target for this paper is policy is because the rising inequality in America has come as a direct result of policies designed to cause inequality. In turn, these policies can be traced to the shift in the late sixties and early seventies against workers in the political discourse in favour of big employers (Pontusson 44).

This policy continues today and, in order for inequality to be checked, the policies have to be changed. In arguing for the change of policy, the paper will also seek to challenge the assumption that inequality has historical roots in the United States and that it is essential for the American Dream to remain alive. This assumption holds that, inequality is what drives the economy as Americans work to bridge the gap. Finally, this paper will fill the gap in literature regarding the shift in polices in the seventies and their results on inequality today, specifically with regards to those policies touching on institutions, the US economy, and cultural recognition.

Works CitedPontusson, Jonas. Inequality and Prosperity: Social Europe vs. Liberal America. Ithaca, NY [u.a.: Cornell Univ. Press, 2012. Print.