Inequality, Democratization, and De–Democratization

Reversions from democratic to undemocratic regimes have often occurred historically and continue to occur frequently. Both increases in categorical inequality across a regime's subject population and declines in the insulation of public politics from categorical inequality tend to de–democratize regimes. A general account of democratization and de–democratization yields a series of conjectures concerning the processes by which changes in categorical inequality threaten democracy.