Jens Borchert

The political class in advanced democracies

Professional politicians have increasingly come under public attack in most democratic countries. Yet they have received surprisingly little systematic attention in political science. This book demonstrates that there are both striking similarities between professional politicians in different countries and notable national peculiarities. The introduction develops a common conceptual framework for the chapters to follow. Using Moscas term and Webers seminal insights it reconstructs the concept of political class to grasp the degree of common interests shared by politicians of different parties and in different institutions. Thereby, it presents an innovative perspective on politicians. The twenty country chapters written by scholars from sixteen countries both provide up-to-date information on professional politics in their countries and discuss the merits of the theoretical approach. In doing so, they follow a common format thus facilitating a comparative reading of particular aspects. Each chapter looks at the historical process of professionalization, the institutional context of professional politics, the size of the political class in each country, typical career paths, the renumeration of politicians, and recent reform debates.

Individual Ambition and Institutional Opportunity: A Conceptual Approach to Political Careers in Multi-level Systems

The article develops a conceptual framework for the analysis of political careers in multi-level systems. Political careers are seen as being shaped by the interplay of individual ambition and the institutional structure of opportunities. Under the conditions of political professionalism, career decisions are made comparing the costs and benefits of attaining the various offices given in a certain polity. I argue that the availability, accessibility, and attractiveness of offices provide the most important clues for career-planning. The article develops a conceptual framework for the analysis of political careers in multi-level systems. Political careers are seen as being shaped by the interplay of individual ambition and the institutional structure of opportunities. Under the conditions of political professionalism, career decisions are made comparing the costs and benefits of attaining the various offices given in a certain polity. I argue that the availability, accessibility, and attractiveness of offices provide the most important clues for career-planning. These in turn are shaped by the institutional structure. Within multi-level systems, the article finds that the relationship between offices on different territorial levels may be organized in one of three ways: there may be a clear hierarchy, there may be separate alternative arenas largely sealed off against each other, or there may be one large integrated playing-field. Finally, the article discusses the repercussions career patterns may have for the political system in which they occur by linking certain political institutions but not others.

Introduction: Political Careers in Multi-level Systems

Political careers in modern democracies have been affected by important territorial reorganisations of the political system. In the newly emerging multi-level systems long-established career patterns are dissolving and new patterns are emerging. For a number of reasons these changes have not yet been adequately mapped and explained. In this introduction we are arguing for a dynamic, careers oriented approach to supersede the traditional institution-centred analysis. The aim of this special issue – and of further research in this field – is to reveal the existing links between political careers and the complex institutional opportunity structures provided by each political system. While changing institutions affect career pathways, changing career patterns, in turn, are bound to have important repercussions for the institutional and territorial order of political systems in general.

German Political Careers: The State Level as an Arena in its Own Right?

This article looks at political career patterns in Germany with a focus on the state level. After all, state legislators are a far more representative group of professional politicians in Germany than members of the federal parliament. Furthermore, by looking at pathways to the state legislatures, strategies to remain there (including office accumulation) and options of career advancement from a state mandate to other positions the authors substitute a dynamic career perspective for a mainly institution-centered one. The main finding of the article is contra-intuitive: Despite an institutional structure that allows for high levels of permeability between different territorial levels of government in Germany, there is actually very limited movement. The high degree of professionalization of state politics, a certain regionalization of the party system and some other factors seem to have turned state politics into a career arena in its own right.

Institutional Order and Career Patterns: Some Comparative Considerations

This article tries to sum up the findings of the country articles and put them into a comparative perspective. The major finding is one of great diversity among prevailing career patterns in multi-level polities. This in itself is considered an advance over frequent assumptions about career patterns based on the US case alone. Looking for causal explanations the article discards some institutional hypotheses. It therefore calls for more empirical research on institutional configurations, the time sequence in which institutions have emerged historically, and the perception and interpretation of institutional arrangements by politicians.