Date of Award

1-2011

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Political Science

First Advisor

Dr. Emily Hauptmann

Abstract

This dissertation looks at the recruitment patterns to leadership positions in the German Bundestag from 1994 to 2006 with the objective of enhancing understanding of legislative careers and representation theory. Most research on political careers thus far has focused on who is elected to parliament, rather than on which legislators attain leadership positions. However, leadership positions within the parliament often come with special privileges and can serve as stepping stones to higher positions on the executive level. Based on a data set I compiled of all members who served in the Bundestag from 1994 to 2006, this dissertation looks at the socio-demographic profiles and political career patterns of German legislators and identifies the factors which are important in the leadership selection process. Further, the dissertation also looks at how two disadvantaged groups in German society, women and East Germans, fare in the selection process. The dissertation finds that generally intra-parliamentary recruitment differs from recruitment to parliament. Additionally, it finds that different factors are positively correlated with leadership selection patterns at different times and across different parliamentary party groups. Lastly, it shows that women fare comparatively better in the selection process to leadership positions than East Germans, though the political career profiles of both groups are in many cases very similar.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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