Introduction: Democracy and Political Voice

Abstract

This chapter briefly engages multiple themes regarding American democracy and the “political voice.” Here, political voice is understood as any activity undertaken by individuals and organizations that has the intent or effect of influencing government action—either directly by affecting the making or implementation of public policy, or indirectly by influencing the selection of people who make those policies. The chapter provides some analyses on the inequalities of political voice and how to measure them empirically, taking into account the various factors for political participation, which complicates this investigation even further. Finally, the chapter provides further notes on the data to be analyzed in the book and presents an overview of the following chapters.