Conceptualizing and Measuring Social Class in the United States

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

The 2016 presidential election brought with it a concern about "working class" or "white working class" politics. We are concerned with how class groups think and behave within American politics. But studies of social class in political science often emphasize divergent indicators, remain divorced from theories of class and class formation, and determine groups post-hoc based on their behaviors. This panel presents research on how political scientists might conceptualize class in the United States.

Two papers look at existing measures of social class. Christopher Witko and William Franko consider how objective measures of class (education, income, and occupation) are associated with subjective class identification. Looking over time using the ANES and GSS, Witko and Franko consider the relationship between demographics and identity, and how to measure class in studies of political behavior. Building off of existing measures by using original survey data,
Kevin Reuning and Sean McElwee explore a new block of survey questions relating particular aspects of occupation to understand how we might better identify class in the American context.

Occupation provides one way to understand social class, but involvement in labor movements can shift class solidarity. Laura Bucci uses original data, as well as data provided by labor unions, to discuss preferences toward public policy and unionization. Where coverage of the 2016 election emphasized the changing political behavior of the white working class, she examines preferences among organized labor toward candidates as well as union involvement compared to the general public.

Emily Zackin and Chloe Thurston use an APD lens to look at social class by adding debt and credit into a larger picture of economic inequality. As Americans gained access to increased lines of credit during the late 20th century, the terms of that credit were more favorable to lenders. What is social class when we consider the burden of debt? They argue that the lack of collective action around the politics of indebtedness stems from a broader lack of class formation among borrowers.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 55: Class and Inequality

Individual Presentations

• Debt, Credit, and Class Formation in the New Gilded Age - Emily Zackin, Johns Hopkins University; Chloe Thurston, Northwestern University

• Conceptualizing Class: Importance & Stability of Class-based Policy Preferences - Christopher M. Witko, Pennsylvania State University; William W. Franko, West Virginia University

• Measuring Class: Improving Proxies of Class in Polling - Sean McElwee, Demos; Kevin Reuning, Miami University

• Social Class, Occupational Stereotypes, and Policy Preferences - Laura C. Bucci, Saint Joseph's University

Chair

• Laura C. Bucci Saint Joseph's University

Discussants

• Brian T. Hamel University of California, Los Angeles

• Amber Wichowsky Marquette University