Becoming a Candidate: Political Ambition and the Decision to Run for Office PDF
Preview Becoming a Candidate: Political Ambition and the Decision to Run for Office
BecomingaCandidate PoliticalAmbitionandtheDecisiontoRunforOffice Why does anyone make the move from politically minded citizen to candidateforpublicoffice?Whatfactorscontributetotheinitialdeci- siontorunforoffice?Whatcircumstancestriggerandsuppresspolitical ambitionovertime?BecomingaCandidate:PoliticalAmbitionandthe Decision to Run for Office explores the factors that drive political ambition at the earliest stages. Using data from a comprehensive sur- veyofthousandsofeligiblecandidates,JenniferL.Lawlesssystemati- callyinvestigateswhatcompelscertaincitizenstopursueelectiveposi- tions and others to recoil at the notion. She assesses personal factors, such as race, gender, and family dynamics, as well as professional circumstances and attitudes toward the political system to shed new light on the candidate emergence process. By developing a broader conceptionofpoliticalambition,Lawlessspeakstofundamentalques- tionsofelectoralcompetition,politicalrepresentation,anddemocratic legitimacy. JenniferL.LawlessisanAssociateProfessorofGovernmentatAmeri- canUniversity,wheresheisalsotheDirectoroftheWomen&Politics Institute. She is the current editor of Politics & Gender. Her research focusesonpoliticalambition,publicopinion,andwomenandpolitics. HerarticleshaveappearedintheAmericanJournalofPoliticalScience, Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics, Political Research Quar- terly, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Politics & Gender, and Women & Politics. She is also the coauthor of It Takes A Candidate: Why Women Don’t Run for Office (Cambridge 2005) and It Still Takes A Candidate:WhyWomenDon’tRunforOffice(Cambridge2010)with Richard L. Fox. She is a recognized speaker on the subject of elec- toral politics, frequently discussing these issues on national and local television and radio. Her scholarly analysis and political commentary have been quoted in the New York Times, theWall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and USA Today, among numerous other news- papers, as well as on the websites of CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. In2006,shesoughttheDemocraticnominationfortheU.S.Houseof RepresentativesinRhodeIsland’s2ndcongressionaldistrict. Becoming a Candidate Political Ambition and the Decision to Run for Office JENNIFER L. LAWLESS AmericanUniversity cambridgeuniversitypress Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown, Singapore,Sa˜oPaulo,Delhi,Tokyo,MexicoCity CambridgeUniversityPress 32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013-2473,usa www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521756600 (cid:2)C JenniferL.Lawless2012 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2012 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Lawless,JenniferL.,1975– Becomingacandidate:politicalambitionandthedecisiontorunforoffice/Jennifer L.Lawless. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. isbn978-0-521-76749-1(hardback)–isbn978-0-521-75660-0(paperback) 1.Politicalcandidates–UnitedStates. 2.Politicalcandidates–UnitedStates–Case studies. I.Title. jk2281.l385 2011 324.7–dc23 2011025064 isbn978-0-521-76749-1Hardback isbn978-0-521-75660-0Paperback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurls forexternalorthird-partyInternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnot guaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. For Marjorie and John Lawless, who always encouraged me to be a candidate, and for Adam Deitch and Nick Goldberg, who helped me become one. Contents ListofTables pagexi ListofFigures xv Acknowledgments xvii 1 Mudslinging,Money-Grubbing,andMayhem:Who WouldEverRunforOffice? 1 TheImportanceofStudyingtheInitialDecisiontoRun forOffice 6 OrganizationoftheBook 10 2 TheDecisiontoRunforOffice:TheTheoreticaland MethodologicalApproach 14 TheInitialDecisiontoRunforOffice:DevelopingaMore CompleteTheoryofPoliticalAmbition 16 TheCitizenPoliticalAmbitionPanelStudy 24 3 PoliticalAmbitionintheCandidateEligibilityPool 31 CandidateEmergencefromtheEligibilityPool 35 WhoRunsforOffice?EligibleCandidates’ExpressiveAmbition 35 WhoConsidersRunningforOffice?EligibleCandidates’Nascent Ambition 37 PredictingNascentAmbition:TheNullEffectsofthePolitical OpportunityStructure 40 DynamicAmbitionintheCandidateEligibilityPool 42 Conclusion 48 vii viii Contents 4 BarackObamaand18MillionCracksintheGlassCeiling: Sex,Race,andPoliticalAmbition 49 ThePoliticsofExclusion:Sex,Race,andtheConventional ExplanationsforNumericUnderrepresentation 53 Sex,Race,andPoliticalAmbition:ExistingLiteratureand CompetingExpectations 57 SimilaritiesinPoliticalParticipation,Proximity,andInterest: AnOverviewbySexandRace 60 Sex,Race,andInterestinRunningforOffice 66 Sex,Race,andChangesinInterestinRunningforOffice: PredictingDynamicAmbition 73 Conclusion 74 5 YouCouldBePresidentSomeday!EarlySocialization,the RoleofFamily,andPoliticalAmbition 77 IntheGenes:TheLifelongEffectsofaPoliticizedUpbringing 78 TheInfluenceofFamilyStructuresandRolesonPolitical Ambition 86 ChangesinFamilyCircumstances:PredictingDynamic Ambition 99 Conclusion 102 6 On-the-JobTraining:ProfessionalCircumstancesandthe DecisiontoRunforOffice 104 ProfessionalDifferencesandPoliticalAmbitioninthe CandidateEligibilityPool:ABivariateAnalysis 106 TheRoleofIncomeandFinancialSuccess 110 TheRoleofProfessionallyConferredPoliticalProximity 114 TheRoleofProfessionalCredentialsandQualifications 117 ASideNoteontheGenderGapinPerceptionsofQualifications 121 TheImpactofProfessionalCircumstancesonPolitical Ambition:MultivariateResults 124 ChangesinProfessionalCircumstances:PredictingDynamic Ambition 129 Conclusion 133 7 YouThinkIShouldRunforOffice?PoliticalParties, PoliticalRecruitment,andPoliticalAmbition 135 EligibleCandidates’PoliticalAttitudesandPartisanship 137 WhoGetsAskedtoRunforOffice? 142 PoliticalRecruitmentandConsideringaCandidacy 150 ChangesinRelationshipsWithandAboutthePolitical Parties:PredictingDynamicAmbition 155 Conclusion 161 Contents ix 8 BitingtheBullet:DecidingtoRunforOffice 164 SoManyReasonsNottoRunforOffice:Negative PerceptionsoftheElectoralEnvironmentandthe CampaignProcess 166 FundraisingasaDeterrenttoRunningforOffice 170 InvasionofPrivacyasaDeterrenttoRunningforOffice 172 NegativeCampaigningasaDeterrenttoRunningforOffice 174 ExpressingThatAmbition:TheDecisiontoEnteranActual Race 176 TheRoleofthePoliticalOpportunityStructure 185 Conclusion 186 9 FuturePatternsofCandidateEmergenceandStudiesof PoliticalAmbition 188 SummaryoftheFindings:ContemporaryPatternsof CandidateEmergence 190 ImplicationsforCandidateEmergenceandtheStudyof PoliticalAmbition 195 AppendixA: TheCitizenPoliticalAmbitionPanelStudy 201 Appendix B: TheFirstWaveSurvey(2001) 204 AppendixC: TheSecondWaveSurvey(2008) 217 AppendixD: TheFirstWaveInterviewQuestionnaire 229 Appendix E: TheSecondWaveInterviewQuestionnaire 234 Appendix F: CodingofVariables 239 WorksCited 251 Index 269
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