The Nomination and Electoral Competitiveness of Working Class Candidates in Germany

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2022

Abstract

The working classes are underrepresented in nearly every legislature around the world. Here, we examine several understudied questions about working class representation in legislatures. We are interested in which parties nominate working class candidates, and whether voters or parties discriminate against legislative candidates from the working class. Using data on the occupational background of German state legislative candidates, we find extreme left and right parties nominate more working class candidates than traditional centre-left and centre-right parties. We also find working class candidates are less likely to win elections compared to candidates from other socio-economic classes.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

German Politics

First Page

459

Last Page

475

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