Are There Social Class Gaps in Nascent Political Ambition? Survey Evidence from the Americas

Why do so few working-class citizens go on to hold elected office in democracies? This article 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 13,535 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 much past research.

Duke Scholars

Author Nicholas W. Carnes Sanford School of Public Policy