Workplace Networks Open the Door to Political Appointments

The article “Workplace Networks and Political Selection” is published in the British Journal of Political Science. The authors are Henrik Andersson, researcher in economics at IBF, together with Linuz Aggeborn, researcher at the Department of Government. The study examines the likelihood of entering politics when working in a workplace with politically active colleagues. It is based on Swedish population data from the period 2002–2018.

“Our study highlights the fact that Sweden has many so-called ‘part-time politicians’, who also have regular jobs alongside their political duties. By focusing on narrowly defined networks — people who share both occupation and workplace — we were able to show that the likelihood of an individual becoming a politician in the future increases clearly if they have a colleague with local political involvement,” says Henrik Andersson.

On average, having one additional politician among ten colleagues means that the likelihood of standing as a candidate in the next election rises by about twelve per cent compared with the rest of the population. The researchers also find that candidacies are largely tied to political parties, which suggests that workplace networks often serve as entry points into party politics. The effect was stronger for the left bloc than for the right bloc.

The study also shows that newly elected politicians who shared a workplace with party colleagues moved up on the candidate lists over time. Initially, workplace networks led to nominations at lower list positions, but on average those nominated secured a better placement already within one electoral term. In other words, workplace networks increase the likelihood of being nominated in the short run, and those who are nominated tend to be placed higher on the list in subsequent terms.

Does it matter how people are recruited into politics?
“It does matter who becomes a politician, and therefore how politicians are recruited is important. Based on our study, we cannot say whether workplace recruitment is better or worse, but the findings contradict the notion that people are only socialised into politics at a young age through political youth organisations. For political parties, it may be an advantage that already established politicians help identify new members considered to have the right qualities for political office. Whether workplace recruitment leads to a more diverse group of politicians with different backgrounds would be an interesting question for future research,” says Henrik Andersson.