Exhibit 1174 ยท Journal article
Who Becomes a Politician?
First, politicians are on average significantly smarter and better leaders than the population they represent.
Sweden, entire population of municipal politicians and national legislators with cognitive and leadership test scores: politicians are on average more competent than the people they represent, and the selection holds within family background. A positive-selection counterexample to the idea that office attracts the less able. Abstract read (Crossref).
- Source
- Dal Bo, Finan, Folke, Persson and Rickne, Quarterly Journal of Economics 132(4):1877-1914
- Date
- November 2017
- Quoted from
- Abstract
- Grade
- Peer-reviewed
- Document
- https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjx016
- Accessed
- 2026-11-10
- Cited by
- Findings citing this exhibit
- Note
- Standing note: exceptional data; one country with high pay-for-politics norms and low corruption. Speaks to competence, not to honesty or capture.