Still, the findings are consistent across all questions and across all countries (even in Russia, where backing for democracy is low, half the middle class supports fair elections, compared with barely a third of the poor).

ECONOMIST: A special poll on middle-class attitudes

Romney's core problem is this: He heads a party that must win two-thirds of the white working-class vote in presidential elections to compensate for its weakness in almost every demographic category.

CNN: Mitt Romney's painfully bad week

In India, the middle class is largely a new political movement as the lower-middle class plays a significant part in general elections votes.

FORBES: The Finances Of The Global Middle Class

Between elections, most members of the American middle class can go about their lives with little distraction from Washington.

WSJ: Christopher DeMuth: A Referendum on ObamaCare and Liberty

The Kremlin tried to manage the discontent, backing a plan by the billionaire businessman Mikhail Prokhorov to revive a pro-business political party that would help to keep the middle class within the bounds of the system in the December elections.

WSJ: Russia After Putin

Moreover, elections in America are won by the candidate who connects with moderates and the middle class.

CNN: Picking Bachmann or Perry is risky for GOP

She has a very strong and important coalition for Democrats to win which is, you know, working class whites who, you know, tend to be historic, historically have been swing voters in elections, and so for any Democrat to win they need to do well and in a down economy, Democrats are poised to do well with that group.

NPR: Obama Re-Writes History, Clinches Party Nomination