Political Interplay Between the Quadrants

A very interesting op-ed from David Frum in the New York Times - some selections:

As a general rule, the more unequal a place is, the more Democratic; the more equal, the more Republican. The gap between rich and poor in Washington is nearly twice as great as in strongly Republican Charlotte, N.C.; and more than twice as great as in Republican-leaning Phoenix, Fort Worth, Indianapolis and Anaheim.

My fellow conservatives and Republicans have tended not to worry very much about the widening of income inequalities. As long as there exists equality of opportunity — as long as everybody’s income is rising — who cares if some people get rich faster than others? Societies that try too hard to enforce equality deny important freedoms and inhibit wealth-creating enterprise. Individuals who worry overmuch about inequality can succumb to life-distorting envy and resentment.

All true! But something else is true, too: As America becomes more unequal, it also becomes less Republican. The trends we have dismissed are ending by devouring us.

And concluding:

Equality in itself never can be or should be a conservative goal. But inequality taken to extremes can overwhelm conservative ideals of self-reliance, limited government and national unity. It can delegitimize commerce and business and invite destructive protectionism and overregulation. Inequality, in short, is a conservative issue too. We must develop a positive agenda that integrates the right kind of egalitarianism with our conservative principles of liberty. If we neglect this task and this opportunity, we won’t lose just the northern Virginia suburbs. We will lose America.

Seems to me that Frum has stumbled onto an all-quadrant perspective on political-economic voting trends.  To the extent that governmental, economic, and social systems seem to be creating equality of opportunity - or, in other words, to the extent the right-hand quadrants are healthy and working - voters lean towards the party that emphasizes personal responsibility and rewarding individual achievement - or, in other words, voters are more likely to put an emphasis on the left-hand quadrants.  But when those systems don't seem to be working, voters tend to vote for the party that emphasizes the role of those systems (and the right-hand quadrants).  Back and forth the pendulum swings, unless and until a party can recognize the contributions of all quadrants and fluidly react to changing conditions - hey, that sounds like integral!

So yes, I think Frum is right - inequality is a conservative issue (and moreover, personal responsibility is a liberal issue), because reality is all-quadrant all the time.  Political parties ignore that to their peril.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07Inequality-t.html