Who chooses a career in politics, and how do politicians’ abilities and social backgrounds compare with those of the general population? These are among the central questions that Torsten Persson of Stockholm University will explore in this year’s Eilert Sundt Lecture.
Abstract
In this lecture, I will give examples of findings in a research program about Swedish politicians, based on a unique data set with individual-level data for the full Swedish population. Specifically, I will present answers to the following questions. Who becomes a politician? How do the abilities and social backgrounds of politicians compare to those of the population at large? Who becomes a politician for the Sweden Democrats, the country’s radical-right party? How do the traits of these politicians compare to those of the party’s voters? Did the introduction of a preference vote in the late 1990s fulfil the objectives of the reform, to raise the number of politicians elected at the voters’ initiative? How did the quotas introduced by Sweden’s Social Democratic party, to achieve a more even gender representation, reshape the abilities of women and men elected for the party?
Biography
Torsten Persson is Professor of Economics at Stockholm University and Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics, and has held visiting positions at leading universities as Harvard, Princeton and Berkeley. Persson is the 2008 President of the Econometric Society, and was President of the European Economic Association in 2003. His scientific prizes include the 1997 Yrjö Jahnsson Medal, given biannually to “the best young economist in Europe”. Persson’s work has spanned macroeconomics, international economics, and public economics, but he is most well-known for his articles and books on political economics. His current research focuses on development, civil war, and climate change.
Programme
14:15 Welcome and opening words by Dean Anne Julie Semb
14:20 Introduction by Head of Department
14:30 Lecture
15:15 Q & A
15:55 Round off by Dean Anne Julie Semb
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