2024/05/07 by Christophe Lévêque · 1 voice
Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · #Competition (biology) #Economics #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Gender Politics and Representation #Law #Political Influence and Corporate Strategies #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Public administration #Representation (politics)
paper · doi:10.1080/03003930.2024.2350627
openalex publication_date 2024/05/07 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
I study whether the numbers of high- and low-social status-individuals in French municipal councils are affected by the level of political competition. I argue that because the most-eligible positions within lists of candidates are obtained by high-social-status persons, political competition increases the number of high-status municipal councilors and is thus detrimental to the election of low-social-status candidates. Using the elections of 2008 and 2014, I provide suggestive evidence that the socioeconomic status of individuals is indeed correlated with their position within lists of candidates. Moreover, I show that the presence of an additional competing list during an election is associated with 0.2 additional high-social-status individuals within the municipal councils. I also observe that those additional municipal councilors are males, which is a result that might have been caused by the gender quota policy implemented in French local elections.