Synonyms
Definition
A subjectively defined group of people who have similar social, cultural, and/or economic status.
Introduction
During the 2012 and 2016 United States Presidential elections, candidates from both parties competed aggressively for the support of “middle-class” voters. Policy proposals, stump speeches, town hall meetings, national party conventions, and presidential debates all focused on what each candidate argued was in the best interest of the middle class (see Linn 2012; Quinton 2012). Immediately after the 2016 election, Forbes magazine referred to Trump’s victory as “The Revolt of Middle America” (Kotkin 2016).
While there was a great deal of agreement that the election was focused on the middle class, there was little agreement about which voters were included in the middle, leading Allison Linn of NBC News to ask, “What is the middle class, anyway?,” and National Journal’sSophie Quinton to comment “President Obama...
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Appendix A Question Wording
Appendix A Question Wording
Class Perception
“If you were asked to use one of these commonly used names for the social classes, which would you say you belong in? The upper class, upper-middle class, middle class, lower-middle class, or lower class?”
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1 UPPER CLASS
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2 UPPER-MIDDLE CLASS
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3 MIDDLE CLASS
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4 LOWER-MIDDLE CLASS
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5 LOWER CLASS
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98 DON’T KNOW/NOT SURE
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99 NA/REFUSED
Middle-Class Perceptions
“Being in the middle class may mean different things to different people. For each item I name, do you think it is or is not a necessary part of being considered a member of the middle class?” IF NECESSARY: “Is this a necessary part of being considered a member of the middle class?”
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1 IS NECESSARY
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2 IS NOT NECESSARY
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98 DON’T KNOW/NOT SURE
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99 NA/REFUSED
(ROTATE Questions)
“Being able to own your own home.”
“Being able to save money for the future.”
“Having enough money to sometimes buy things you’d like to have, even if you don’t absolutely need them.”
“Having enough money for vacation travel.”
“Being able to buy a new car from time to time.”
“Being able to afford college.”
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Dineen, J., Robbins, M.D., Simonsen, B. (2018). Social Class: Perception and Reality. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3477-1
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