White-collar government : the hidden role of class in economic policy making / Nicholas Carnes.

White-collar government -- What is class? -- The unequal social class makeup of American political institutions -- The elephant in the room -- Why does class matter? -- The evidence -- Voting with class -- Legislative voting as a window into the importance of class -- Measuring the divisions -- Class and legislative voting today -- Class and legislative voting during the postwar period -- The enduring imprint of class -- Representational inequality in "ayes" and "nays" -- Before the votes are cast -- Legislative entrepreneurs -- The role of class -- Measuring legislative entrepreneurship -- The policies legislators propose -- The policies legislators pass -- Leaving the working class off the agenda -- Class, opinions, and choices -- Out of touch, or out of step? -- Inside the mind of a member of Congress -- The importance of opinions -- Who's out of touch now? -- Out-of-step government -- Economic policy making in class-imbalanced legislatures -- Representation and policy making -- What would a class-balanced Congress have done? -- When the working class holds office -- Blue-collar government -- The economic consequences of white-collar government -- Fixing the broken mirror -- What's keeping the working class out of office? -- Thinking bigger about inequality -- Up front there oughta be a man in black.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 169-181) and index.