HAMBACH DEMOCRACY PAPER 3/23 Progressive Tradition. European Vision. New Ways of Analysing the Vicious Cycle of Wealth Disparities and Political Power by Enrico Borghetto In contemporary democratic societies, the nexus between wealth inequality and the disproportionate influence of rich private actors on the decision-making process is a growing concern. The fact that wealth can be leveraged to accumulate and wield dispropor­tionate power has been a longstanding subject of discussion among democratic theorists. Yet, periods of economic upheaval, financial crises, or significant shifts in wealth distribution tend to rekindle such debates. This is precisely what is happening nowadays, with reputable sources pointing out that the concentration of income and wealth at the top has reached its highest point in the last 80 years. And the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated this situation. 1 If most agree that discussing the rela­tionship between power and wealth has never been more essential if we care for the sus­tainability of the very fabric of our democratic systems, it is often difficult to disentangle their causal connection. The influence of wealth on power often operates indirectly. Wealth can contribute to political influence, for example, through campaign contributions, lobby­ing, or philanthropy. 2 However, it may not 1 According to the 2022 World Inequality Report, in 2021, the income and wealth disparities globally and in Europe are staggering. The average income of the richest 10% is 31 times higher than that of the poorest 50%. In terms of wealth distribution, the bottom 50% of the world owns only 2% of the total wealth, while the top 10% possesses 76%. In Europe, the income and wealth distributions are slightly less extreme: on average, the top 10% takes 36% of the total national income and captures 58% of total household wealth. 2 For a literature review, see e.g. Beckert, J.(2022). Durable Wealth: Institutions, Mechanisms, and Practices of Wealth Perpetuation. Annual Review of Sociology, 48(1), 233–255. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-030320-115024 1