The Higher the Better? A Comparative Analysis of Sociodemographic Characteristics and Human Capital of German Federal Government Members

Are the highest politicians better qualified than their peers? In this article, we analyze differences between chancellors, vice chancellors, and ministers of the inner or residual cabinets of the German federal governments between 1949 and 2009 with respect to their social backgrounds and education...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:German politics and society 2014-12, Vol.32 (4), p.21-38
Main Authors: Scharfenkamp, Katrin, Dilger, Alexander
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Average age
Cabinets
Careers
Chancellors
Comparative analysis
Education
Federal Government
Forecasts and trends
Germany
Government
Government cabinets
Human Capital
Inaugurations
Income distribution
Management
Party membership
Political leadership
Political parties
Political representation
Politicians
Politics
Prime Ministers
Qualifications
Residual claimancy
Social Background
Sociodemographic Characteristics
Studies
Citations: Items that cite this one
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Summary:Are the highest politicians better qualified than their peers? In this article, we analyze differences between chancellors, vice chancellors, and ministers of the inner or residual cabinets of the German federal governments between 1949 and 2009 with respect to their social backgrounds and educational, economic, as well as political human capital. Different statistical methods reveal no clear primacy of chancellors or vice chancellors over other members of government. Interestingly, inner cabinets have higher qualifications than residual cabinets, as well as partly chancellors and vice chancellors.
ISSN:1045-0300
1558-5441
DOI:10.3167/gps.2014.320402