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Class origin, elite circulation, and the currency of political capital

Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: This study investigates how class origin shapes the post-political career trajectories of Norwegian political elites. Building on theories of horizontal elite circulation and the notion of political capital, I ask whether politicians from privileged backgrounds are better able to convert the social and symbolic resources accumulated in office into top-level positions in other sectors. Using anonymous register data that cover the entire Norwegian population, I identify former ministers, state secretaries, and members of parliament who left top-level politics between 2003 and 2017. Sequence analysis and hierarchical clustering reveals six prototypical career pathways. Regression models show that upper-class origins significantly increase the probability of entering the private sector or organized-interest elite, while working-class politicians are overrepresented among those who exit political elite positions for a few years, only to return again. Educational attainment and occupational experience does not account for this pattern, suggesting that class-based habitus and credibility as holders of political capital operate independently of formal qualifications. Moreover, the results are interpreted as differences in the sectoral demand for political capital: it is highly valued in the private and organized-interest sectors but less so in the public bureaucracy. The findings demonstrate that elite circulation is stratified by class: upper-class origins facilitate the conversion of political capital into stable, high-status careers, whereas political elites with working-class social origins tend to remain within the precarious realm of elected office. This underscores the enduring role of class origin in reproducing power hierarchies even within a comparatively egalitarian context such as Norway.
DOI: 10.1162/euso.a.113
Institution: University of Oslo
Language: English
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7159974309
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