What Do We Mean When We Talk about the ‘Political Class’?

Abstract

Recent years have seen an explosion of popular complaint about the British 'political class'. Within this narrative, the political class is feckless, unrepresentative, immoral and elitist. It rules over 'ordinary people' from Westminster with no conception of what 'real people' think. How can one respond to such complaints? It is argued in this article that a coherent solution will only be possible when the problem can be defined clearly. 'Political class' should not be a catch-all description for elected politicians. Instead, the 'political class' narrative should be divided into three distinct but related concepts -the political elite, political professionalisation and political careerism -in order to highlight the ways in which the term needlessly conflates distinct ideas and adds more confusion to an already vague debate.

Who Wants to Run? How the Devaluing of Political Office Drives Polarization

“…Yet, despite these party-centric elements, citizens of the U.K. still worry a great deal about the quality of their representatives. Complaining about Parliament's "political class," Nigel Farage, the controversial leader of the UKIP party, declared that "...this country is now run by a bunch of college kids who have never done a proper day's work in their lives" (as quoted in Allen and Cairney 2015). Whether we agree with Farage's specific complaint or not, it is true that British MPs are not representative of the broader public-a fact that has produced consternation not only among UKIP supporters (Allen and Cairney 2015).…”

What is a career politician? Theories, concepts, and measures

“…Career politicians also have limited life experience in the real world. They lack maturity and judgment (Wright, 2013;Allen and Cairney, 2017;Clarke et al, 2018, pp. 104-105).…”

“…Cumulative research in this field has been greatly impeded, however, by conceptual confusion (Allen and Cairney, 2017). Career politicians are often vaguely and inconsistently distinguished from "professional politicians," "careerists," and "the political class."…”

Solving the problem of social background in the UK ‘political class’: Do parties do things differently in Westminster, devolved and European elections?

“…The 'political class' argument is difficult to pinpoint and operationalise, and it could relate to anything from elected politicians' flawed characters, limited roots in local constituencies, and inexperience of the real world, to their 'inability to represent devolved and English regions; and, their tendency to engage in a style of politics that is off-putting to the general public' (Allen and Cairney, 2015). We can identify a variety of, potentially contradictory, ways in which these problems -and their solutions -have been framed.…”

“…Instead, they are part of a selfreferential 'political class' which is increasingly distant from the real world and mistrusted by the public (Cairney, 2014). The 'political class' is rarely defined with precision (Allen and Cairney, 2015). Yet, one clear part of this criticism regards the small extent to which Westminster politicians reflect the social background of the voting population.…”