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The Class Ceiling in Politics

Author

Listed:
  • Folke, Olle

    (Department of Political Science, Uppsala University)

  • Rickne, Johanna

    (Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University)

Abstract
Prior studies have documented that working-class individuals rarely become parliamentarians. We know less about when in the career pipeline to parliament workers disappear, and why. We study these questions using detailed data on the universe of Swedish politicians’ careers over a 50-year period. We find roughly equal-sized declines in the proportion of workers on various rungs of the political career ladder ranging from local to national office. We reject the potential explanations that workers lack political ambition, public service motivation, honesty, or voter support. And while workers’ average high school grades and cognitive test scores are lower, this cannot explain their large promotion disadvantage, a situation that we label a class ceiling. Organizational ties to blue-collar unions help workers advance, but only to lower-level positions in left-leaning parties. We conclude that efforts to improve workers’ numerical representation should apply throughout the career ladder and focus on intra-party processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Folke, Olle & Rickne, Johanna, 2023. "The Class Ceiling in Politics," Working Paper Series 14/2023, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sofiwp:2023_014
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carozzi, Felipe & Gago, Andrés, 2023. "Who promotes gender-sensitive policies?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 371-405.
    2. Nicholas Carnes & Noam Lupu, 2015. "Rethinking the Comparative Perspective on Class and Representation: Evidence from Latin America," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 59(1), pages 1-18, January.
    3. Baltrunaite, Audinga & Bello, Piera & Casarico, Alessandra & Profeta, Paola, 2014. "Gender quotas and the quality of politicians," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 62-74.
    4. Olle Folke & Johanna Rickne, 2022. "Sexual Harassment and Gender Inequality in the Labor Market [High Wage Workers and High Wage Firms]," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 137(4), pages 2163-2212.
    5. Cirone, Alexandra & Cox, Gary W. & Fiva, Jon H., 2021. "Seniority-Based Nominations and Political Careers," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 115(1), pages 234-251, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    political selection; social class; discrimination; careers in politics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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