Imagining tomorrow: Americans’ attitudes towards basic income

Abstract

How can social scientists advance discussions around public policy in a world characterized by increasing political polarization? I examine how Social Identity Theory (SIT) and its extensions, subconstituency theory, meritocracy theory, and the SMB model, motivate a scientific and practical interest in universal basic income (UBI) as a necessary policy response to the human capacity for social categorization. I offer a novel theoretical and empirical contribution by integrating SIT with public attitudes toward UBI, framing these discussions through broader economic and political ideologies. Unlike class- or race-based redistributive policies, strong UBI treats everyone equally, a novelty. To structure discussions around public policy and basic incomes, I provide scientific and ideological frameworks for interdisciplinary research on novel policies like UBI. Finally, I present data from a 2022 Congressional Election Study survey experiment to demonstrate that Americans’ policy preferences are motivated by a norm of equal treatment, consistent with classical liberalism.