Why Working-Class People Account for Around 1% of Lawmakers in the US – and only 2% in the Average Democracy Around the World

Only about 1% of US lawmakers are working-class

The fact that so few former workers hold elected office means that working-class interests often fall by the wayside in the world’s political institutions

Why working-class people account for around 1% of lawmakers in the US – and only 2% in the average democracy around the world

Troy Jackson, the Democratic nominee in Maine's U.S. Senate race, greets a supporter on July 25, 2026, in Bangor. AP Photo/Robert F. BukatyBoth major U.S. political parties regularly tout their commitment to working-class Americans and claim to be the party of the working class. However, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans nominate many candidates who spent substantial time in working-class jobs. This near-absence of people from working-cl…

Why working‑class people account for around 1% of lawmakers in the US – and only 2% in the average democracy around the world

by Noam Lupu, Vanderbilt University and Nicholas Carnes, Duke University, [This article first appeared in The Conversation, republished with permission] Both major U.S. political parties regularly tout their commitment to working-class Americans and claim to be the party of the working class. However, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans nominate many candidates who spent substantial time in working-class jobs. This near-absence of people f…