Who Runs? - Candidacy & Class

Why do so few working-class people hold elected office, and what would make it possible for more to run? In “Who Runs? Candidacy & Class,” Nick Carnes of Duke University and Noam Lupu of Vanderbilt University join moderator and discussant Roberto F. Carlos of the University of Michigan to explore how social class shapes access to political power. Drawing on research from the United States and democracies around the world, Carnes and Lupu examine the financial pressures, time demands, and recruitment practices that keep workers off the ballot. The conversation considers what working-class underrepresentation means for public policy and democratic trust, alongside potential reforms such as targeted recruitment, financial support for candidates, partnerships between unions and political parties, and citizens’ assemblies. Recorded on September 17, 2026, at the University of Michigan, this event launched “Whose Democracy?,” a two-year series organized by the Stone Working Group on Inequality and Political Economy (SWIPE) within the Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics.