Professional campaigners are socially removed from low-income communities and taught to ignore them at election time, perpetuating political inequalities

Voter turnout has fallen as income inequality has risen, in the US and other advanced democracies. Daniel Laurison considers this phenomenon an effect of how political campaigns are organised, and how campaign staff are recruited. Based on evidence from elections in the US, he explains why campaigns are reluctant to focus efforts on voters from disadvantaged communities.