Las [PDF] The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution: Why
Economic Inequality Threatens Our Republic
By Ganesh Sitaraman
In this original, provocative contribution to the debate over economic
inequality, Ganesh Sitaraman argues that a strong and sizable middle class
is a prerequisite for America's constitutional system. A New York Times
Notable Book of 2017For most of Western history, Sitaraman argues,
constitutional thinkers assumed economic inequality was inevitable and
inescapable--and they designed governments to prevent class divisions
from spilling over into class warfare. The American Constitution is
different. Compared to Europe and the ancient world, America was a
society of almost unprecedented economic equality, and the founding
generation saw this equality as essential for the preservation of
America's republic. Over the next two centuries, generations of
Americans fought to sustain the economic preconditions for our
constitutional system. But today, with economic and political inequality on
the rise, Sitaraman says Americans face a choice: Will we accept rising
economic inequality and risk
