Are There Social Class Gaps in Nascent Political Ambition?

• In Event: New Directions in Comparative Political Inequality Research

Abstract

Why do so few working-class citizens go on to hold elected office in democracies? This paper tests an explanation motivated by the larger literature on descriptive representation, namely, differences in nascent ambition. Are workers less likely to be personally inclined to run? In this study, we use new data from 10 surveys administered to 13,550 respondents in the Americas to conduct the first cross-national analysis of social class gaps in nascent ambition (and one of the largest studies of nascent ambition to date). We find little evidence of social class differences in standard measures of nascent ambition, although we find substantial gender gaps, consistent with past research. These findings mirror research on the US and suggest that external obstacles—not individual-level differences in nascent ambition—may be responsible for the shortage of politicians from the working classes.

Authors

• Nicholas Carnes, Duke University

• Noam Lupu, Vanderbilt University