Politiker med karriärambitioner – en omöjlig självklarhet: En studie om karriärambitionernas betydelse i den representativa demokratin.

Abstract

This book studies the role of individuals’ personal ambitions in politics. Swedish Members of Parliament, especially those who express an interest in reaching higher up the political ladder, are in focus. The question is whether a study of career ambitions, and in particular of politicians with career ambitions, can help us increase our understanding of the practice of representative democracy in systems where the political party, rather than the individual candidate, traditionally has a strong role. The main data comes from the Riksdag Survey, conducted by the Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg. After each general national Swedish election, all Members of the Swedish Parliament are asked to answer the Riksdag Survey. The response rates are in general as high as 90 percent. In an international comparison this is outstanding and the Riksdag survey therefore makes the Swedish case interesting for all kinds of studies of parliamentarians. Interestingly, only once have the Swedish MPs been confronted with a question related to their career ambitions, which in itself highlights the lack of interest of the role of career ambition in Swedish politics. However, the question, which was asked in 1996, enables me to accomplish both my empirical and my methodological analyses. It also opens up for the possibility of following the MPs 10 years forward in time and examine their actual career success. Furthermore, the question was asked in reference to a larger European study that includes the same question in ten other European countries. The book therefore also presents comparisons between the Swedish case and similar cases with respect to constitutional characteristics around Europe. The analyses of the book clearly show that there are MPs with personal career ambitions also in the Swedish Parliament. What is more: They are both active and successful. My analysis shows that nearly one-fifth of the members in the Swedish Riksdag match the theoretical definition of members with real career ambitions. So, who are they? The general image is that politicians with career ambitions tend to be younger than other MPs, they come from the upper social strata of the population, have well educated parents, live in the Stockholm area, and strikingly often were professional politicians already when they entered the Riksdag. Furthermore, members with career ambitions act as trustees, to speak with the theoretical literature on styles of representation, (Eulau, et al. 1959). The individual voter and the constituency play a less important role for the career ambitious MP compared to MPs that lack the same ambition. Instead, the career ambitious politicians strongly emphasize the importance of their own opinions. In many situations they make their voices heard, for example by opposing the party’s official standpoints. Politicians with career ambition are also more involved in international affairs and see themselves as internationalists. When it comes to the internal political life of the party, members with career ambitions put greater emphasis than other MPs on the internal game within the party. The internal game includes elaborating good contacts with the party leadership, being responsive to the general opinion of the party members and winning debates at group meetings. Members can therefore be said to have a clear strategic approach to the work in the Parliament and in the party group. It is also interesting to note that no results indicate that members with career ambitions have a disadvantage when it comes to receiving relevant career positions. MPs with career ambitions show stronger career development than others. Still, the comparison between Sweden and ten other European countries indicates that the Swedish Riksdag have relatively few members with career ambitions. The proportion of Swedish members with career ambitions is the second lowest in a European comparison. The comparison also shows that there are large variations between parliaments with respect to how common it is that members have personal career ambitions. The results also indicate that the low proportion of Swedish members of parliament with career ambitions could be related to a culture of equality that reduces the supply of politicians with career aspirations. This book provides future research with a clear reference point for the study of politicians with career ambitions. In short, political career ambition matters for the functioning of representative democracy.