Abstract
Does income inequality do any harm to equal voice? Some research has revealed that the level of political participation is low among those with low income, which indicates that economic inequality may endanger democracy, by threatening the opportunity of equal voice. In Japan, on the other hand, the apparent effect of socio-economic status on political participation has not been observed. The possible reason is that most research in that vein has examined only the effect of income, but not assets. Using the 4th wave of CSES data, this study examines if wealth such as stock and house ownership, not just income, would have impact on participation in voting. The result shows that stock ownership is positively correlated with participation in voting. Also, housing ownership has a positive effect on the support to Abe cabinet. These findings suggest that asset ownership may facilitate political engagement.
