When and Where Class Matters for Political Outcomes: Class and Politics in a Cross-National Perspective

Abstract

Class conceptualization and measurement greatly influence the discovery of class effects in empirical models of political outcomes. As Wright (1997) and Sorensen (2000) demonstrate by providing convincing examples, different research questions imply different, equally legitimate definitions of class. We agree with the view that plurality and diversity of concepts of class is an essential part of discourse in social sciences, and there are no intellectual reasons to limit it. However, in each research instance, it is important to clarify the meaning of the concept of class and explain its main properties and relations with other concepts pertaining to structured social inequality.