Working-class politicians aren't always best for the working class
"Even smart people can be taken in by myths about mill workers' sons"
If you live in an area that votes Democrats into office, you've likely heard politicians go on ad nauseam about their humble beginnings. That's because when voters hear that a candidate has working-class roots, they assume that candidate is progressive on economic issues.
In reality, though, there's no difference between how a mill worker's child and a doctor's child behaves once elected.
That's according to a study, by Duke's Nicholas Carnes and Princeton's Meredith Sadin, that asked, "What, if anything, do voters infer when they learn whether a candidate was raised in a more or less privileged family?" and "Should voters believe what they hear about politicians raised in working-class families?"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
To answer those questions, they amassed biographical data for every legislator in the 106th through 110th congresses (1999 to 2008), including their parents' professions. After identifying which ones came from working-class backgrounds, the researchers looked at the kinds of votes those lawmakers garnered in the previous election. To measure how the politicians acted while in office, the researchers examined those legislators' voting records on a variety of issues, especially those related to the working class.
Carnes and Sadin found that invoking a proletarian upbringing does work if you're after votes from the left. Not surprising, then, that these candidates — those that brandished modest upbringings — fared better in progressive districts.
What was more surprising is that once these candidates were elected, their legislation wasn't in line with voters' expectations. There was no difference in the ideological positions of legislators who were raised by factory workers versus those raised by lawyers. As the researchers conclude: "Some lawmakers raised in working-class families may be genuine working-class heroes. However, they appear to be the exceptions, not the rule. Once we know a legislator's party, knowing what their parents did for a living doesn't help us predict how they will vote on economic issues."
Carnes warns that voters need to be careful when candidates talk about their harsh childhood. "Some politicians from privileged families care a lot about the less fortunate, like FDR or Ted Kennedy," he says. "Voters should pay more attention to what the candidate did for a living herself, or what the candidate has already done in office. When a candidate flashes a parent's working-class credentials, it should set off a little alarm in the voter's mind that says, 'This candidate is playing up an aspect of their background that doesn't usually predict how politicians behave in office.' It should give voters even more motivation to take a hard look at the candidate's actual record on the issues."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
"Even smart people," Carnes says, "can be taken in by myths about mill workers' sons." In a follow-up analysis, the researchers found that people who scored highest on a political-knowledge test were more likely to make assumptions based on how a candidate was brought up. "It appears to be a misleading shortcut," Carnes says, "a cue that leads voters to make faulty inferences about candidates' political priorities."
Pacific Standard grapples with the nation's biggest issues by illuminating why we do what we do. For more on the science of society, sign up for its weekly email update or subscribe to its bimonthly print magazine.
More from Pacific Standard...
- The idea of racial hierarchy remains entrenched in Americans' psyches
- What if we admitted to children that sex is primarily about pleasure?
- How the other half lifts: What your workout says about your social class
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Melting polar ice is messing with global timekeeping
Speed Read Ice loss caused by climate change is slowing the Earth's rotation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The Week contest: Stick guitar
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
'Sports executives ushered a fox into the henhouse'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Xi-Biden meeting: what's in it for both leaders?
Today's Big Question Two superpowers seek to stabilise relations amid global turmoil but core issues of security, trade and Taiwan remain
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published