Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 February 2006
The members of the Task Force on Inequality and American Democracywere not of one mind about any of the subjects they took up—and thisis one reason, among many, that it was the most vibrant andstimulating professional collaboration I have had the privilege tobe part of. It would be presumptuous of me to speak for anyone butmyself in explaining and justifying the Task Force's work. And yet,there does seem to me at least one note of common explanationrequired up front. All the members of the Task Force, I am certain,saw their work as only the beginning of adiscussion within the discipline—and, indeed, more broadly—about therelationship between inequality and contemporary Americangovernance. Although we hoped to showcase and integrate the bestexisting research and theory, our main goal was to spark newquestions, new research, new thinking, and new debates. And judgingfrom this forum, as well as from the recent scholarship showcased inLarry Bartels's (2006) and Kay Schlozman's (2006) essays, wehave.