Operations and Acknowledgements Task Force Inequality and American Democracy

The structure and the process of the Task Force on Inequality and American Democracy were designed to include both focused writing and deliberation, and collective decision making.

The Critical Reviews

Three working groups drafted extensive reviews of research in American politics on the principal areas of scholarly analysis - political "voice" (political behavior and public opinion), governance (representation and the institutional and political dynamics of the lawmaking branches), and public policy and its feedback on political voice and governance. The purpose of the reviews was to offer a state of the art review of existing research on inequality and American democracy. They were written in a language and tone that was meant to be accessible to undergraduates and graduate students as well as to our colleagues in different fields and disciplines. Each working group had a coordinator to encourage and facilitate deliberation and the production of written materials in a timely manner. Beginning at our first meeting January 2003, each working group prepared materials that were then presented to the Task Force for review; the working groups incorporated the reactions of colleagues in subsequent drafts.

The General Report

The Task Force also produced a relatively short report aimed at the general public and mass media. It is written in a clear and forceful manner and is intended to provoke both interest and debate. This follows on the interest in the Council, Association, and profession in encouraging greater public engagement. This general public report was drafted after the November 2003 meeting when the working groups had neared completion on their reports, and was subsequently revised and recirculated for comments and another set of revisions.

Teaching Materials

The Task Forced produced a third set of material geared to instruction - a "masters" guideline to designing a course syllabus. This was compiled by Suzanne Mettler with the assistance of her colleagues at Syracuse, and was revised in response to comments of the Task Force.

Peer Review

As the Task Force's material reached an advanced stage, it requested three outside peers to review our working group reports and the general public report. The outside reviewers represent quite distinct constituents -- Larry Mishel (economist, expert on inequality, and president of the Economic Policy Institute), John Dilulio (distinguished scholar of American politics and public policy and official in the White House of President George W. Bush), and Linda Williams (prominent scholar of race, gender, and ethnicity). Each offered concrete suggestions for improvements that the Task Force discussed and addressed. The Task Force is indebted to these outside reviewers.

In short, the materials produced by the Task Force are anchored in rigorous research and reflect the considered judgments of a distinguished Task Force and the scrutiny of three prominent outside reviewers.

Acknowledgements

Our interactions in person, on the telephone, and in writing have been serious, collegial and good humored even as we addressed what were at times serious disagreements. This report is a truly collective effort. As in any collective effort, a few people performed invaluable service to the group. Three working groups were the hubs for much of our work; the extraordinary efforts of the coordinators of the working groups - Kay Schlozman, Jacob Hacker, and Larry Bartels - deserve particular recognition.

The Task Force is deeply grateful to the many individuals who helped us prepare and then publicly release our reports. The Task Force has enjoyed the steady encouragement of Michael Brintnall, Executive Director of the American Political Science Association, and the Association's Council. Rob Hauck, the Association's Deputy Executive Direction, provided valuable assistance. Sean Twombly committed tremendous energy and inventiveness to launching the Report. The Russell Sage Foundation provided generous support.

Each of the three research reports benefited from the advice and assistance of colleagues and graduate students. The report on political voice was particularly helped by the research assistance of Mark Fennell, the thoughtful reading and suggestions of Claire Kim and Theda Skocpol, and the generous feedback of David Meyer regarding research on social movements.

The research report on governance benefited from the advice and comments of Sarah Binder (Brookings Institution and George Washington University), Forrest Maltzman (George Washington University), Jon Oberlander (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), and Dara Strolovich (University of Minnesota). Skilled research assistance was provided by Michael Illuzi (University of Minnesota), Hilary Kennedy (George Mason University), and Jonathan Ladd (Princeton University). Christopher Karpowitz (Princeton University) was particularly helpful in researching and drafting our initial review of the literature on money in the American political system.

The report on policy feedbacks was helped by the comments and contributions of John Dilulio, Faye Williams, Joe Soss, David Mayhew, Peter Orzag, and Jared Bernstein; valuable data on redistribution from the Luxembourg Income Study was provided by Vincent Mahler, Timothy Smeeding, and David Jesuit; important help with the analysis was provided by Nigar Nargis and Andrew Milstein; and valuable research assistance was offered by Nelson Gerew, Rachel Goodman, Pearline Kyi, Joanne Lim, Natalie Wigg, and, especially, Alan Schoenfeld.

_{^{The Task Force on Inequality and American Democracy was convened by the American Political Science Association with the support of the Russell Sage Foundation. The opinions expressed in the report are solely those of the Task Force members. No opinions, statements of fact or conclusions in the report should be attributed to the American Political Science Association, to the Russell Sage Foundation, or to any individual who offered assistance or comments.}}