Research has shown that negative social impacts, including violence, are the result not of poverty per se, but of growing income disparity, particularly in high-income countries. By all measures, economic disparity is increasing in the United States. The vaulted middle class is shrinking, and the lower class is growing. Moreover, a solid majority of Americans believe that the income gap has been expanding and that the rich are not paying their fair share in taxes. These perceptions are stirring up an increased sense of “conflict” between the rich and the poor.

Will this sense of conflict result in outright conflict? Research has shown that a major cause of violence is the feeling of shame or humiliation, closely related to feelings of envy and jealousy. James Gilligan notes that “people feel inferior to those whom they envy, or of whom they are jealous. . . . People resort to violence when they feel that they can wipe out shame only by shaming those who they feel shamed them. The most powerful way to shame anyone is by means of violence.” Large-scale urban unrest has not occurred in the United States since the 1960s. Could it occur again today? And if so, what would that imply for leaders at the local level?

With the federal and state governments largely deadlocked politically and financially, the responsibility for dealing with this issue, as with most major social issues, has largely devolved to local governments. But given the practical realities of local politics, can local leaders rise above partisanship and political rhetoric to create healthy, safe, and economically sustainable communities? Do local governments have the political will to address economic disparity, and if so, do they also have the resources?

Order the complete article, “Growing Income Disparity and the Implications for Local Government,” by Ron Carlee, which appears in the Municipal Year Book 2013.