Political Ambition Gaps in Democracies

• In Event: Why are Politicians so Rich?

Abstract

Demographic gaps in nascent political ambition—an initial interest in running for elected office—have been studied in the US, largely in the context of research on the shortage of female officeholders, and also recently in studies about the slanted social class makeup of government. Do gender or social class gaps in nascent ambition exist in other democracies? This paper uses data from the Latin American Public Opinion Project to conduct the first cross-national analysis of gender and social class differences in nascent political ambition.

Authors

• Nicholas Carnes, Duke University

• Noam Lupu, Vanderbilt University