The Cash Ceiling
Why Only the Rich Run for Office--and What We Can Do about It
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
Why working-class Americans almost never become politicians, what that means for democracy, and what reformers can do about it
Why are Americans governed by the rich? Millionaires make up only three percent of the public but control all three branches of the federal government. How did this happen? What stops lower-income and working-class Americans from becoming politicians? The first book to answer these urgent questions, The Cash Ceiling provides a compelling and comprehensive account of why so few working-class people hold office—and what reformers can do about it.
Using extensive data on candidates, politicians, party leaders, and voters, Nicholas Carnes debunks popular misconceptions (like the idea that workers are unelectable or unqualified to govern), identifies the factors that keep lower-class Americans off the ballot and out of political institutions, and evaluates a variety of reform proposals.
In the United States, Carnes shows, elections have a built-in “cash ceiling,” a series of structural barriers that make it almost impossible for the working-class to run for public office. Elections take a serious toll on candidates, many working-class Americans simply can’t shoulder the practical burdens, and civic and political leaders often pass them over in favor of white-collar candidates. But these obstacles aren’t inevitable. Pilot programs to recruit, train, and support working-class candidates have the potential to increase the economic diversity of our governing institutions and ultimately amplify the voices of ordinary citizens.
Who runs for office goes to the heart of whether we will have a democracy that is representative or not. The Cash Ceiling shows that the best hope for combating the oversized political influence of the rich might simply be to help more working-class Americans become politicians.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this detailed but very accessible study, public policy and political science professor Carnes (White-Collar Government: The Hidden Role of Class in Economic Policy Making) identifies a problem with the American political system that has received minimal scrutiny. He observes that, in the more than 14,000 times seats in the House of Representatives have changed hands since 1789, no blue-collar worker has succeeded "another former blue-collar worker in the same congressional seat." Carnes argues that, because of differences in concerns between people of differing classes, the lack of politicians who are "former workers" leads to policy that "ultimately makes life harder for the majority of Americans from the working class." He identifies various factors leading to this state of affairs, including the demands of campaigning on candidates' time and resources and the lack of recruitment of qualified candidates from working-class backgrounds. Carnes proposes potential reforms "candidate recruitment programs, political scholarships, and seed money programs" but admits "we can only guess at how would affect the social class makeup of government." Though the analysis would have benefited from a consideration of how other Western democracies have handled this matter, Carnes deserves credit for focusing attention on an under-the-radar issue.
