Success denied: social class and perceptions of political success
Success denied: social class and perceptions of political success
The working class are poorly represented in democratic institutions across the world, despite substantial evidence that the public do not discriminate against working-class candidates and view them more positively across numerous character traits. We propose a novel explanation: a pragmatism bias where working-class individuals are perceived as less likely to achieve political success. We provide experimental evidence that this bias may operate at multiple stages of the political process. We go beyond existing work by using a multidimensional operationalization of class to show that contemporary class has the largest effects on perceived chances of political success. Finally, we show that this cannot be remedied by social mobility, and high-income individuals are more likely to display this belief.
Beliefs, Intentions, Pregnancy planning, Male, Preconception
Devine, Daniel
6bfa5a27-1b58-4c61-8eb0-a7a40860a4ae
Turnbull-Dugarte, Stuart J.
e25c6280-842c-407f-a961-6472eea5d845
Ryan, Matt
f07cd3e8-f3d9-4681-9091-84c2df07cd54
2 July 2025
Devine, Daniel
6bfa5a27-1b58-4c61-8eb0-a7a40860a4ae
Turnbull-Dugarte, Stuart J.
e25c6280-842c-407f-a961-6472eea5d845
Ryan, Matt
f07cd3e8-f3d9-4681-9091-84c2df07cd54
Devine, Daniel, Turnbull-Dugarte, Stuart J. and Ryan, Matt
(2025)
Success denied: social class and perceptions of political success.
Legislative Studies Quarterly, 50 (4).
(doi:10.1111/lsq.70024).
Abstract
The working class are poorly represented in democratic institutions across the world, despite substantial evidence that the public do not discriminate against working-class candidates and view them more positively across numerous character traits. We propose a novel explanation: a pragmatism bias where working-class individuals are perceived as less likely to achieve political success. We provide experimental evidence that this bias may operate at multiple stages of the political process. We go beyond existing work by using a multidimensional operationalization of class to show that contemporary class has the largest effects on perceived chances of political success. Finally, we show that this cannot be remedied by social mobility, and high-income individuals are more likely to display this belief.
Text
Legislative Studies Qtrly - 2025 - Devine - Success Denied Social Class and Perceptions of Political Success-3
- Version of Record
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 11 June 2025
Published date: 2 July 2025
Keywords:
Beliefs, Intentions, Pregnancy planning, Male, Preconception
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 506620
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/506620
ISSN: 1939-9162
PURE UUID: e61d4d70-6bbd-44cd-9841-f683b655693e
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 12 Nov 2025 17:38
Last modified: 15 Nov 2025 03:01
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Daniel Devine
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics