Apprentices or outsiders? Age-driven heterogeneities in access to political capital and reelection

Abstract

Norms about what constitutes an ideal politician are shown to negatively affect the demand for young political candidates within political parties because they favor qualities that young people have yet to acquire. We ask whether this “youth bias” continues to shape the political opportunities of those young persons who get elected. Drawing on comprehensive, original data encompassing all Czech MPs elected between 1996 and 2021, we analyze potential age-driven heterogeneities in access to valuable political resources and reelection, both of which are subject to party gatekeeping. We find that young MPs are given a privileged access to assignments that facilitate learning about the legislative business and reelection, despite being more likely to cast a dissenting vote at roll call. These results suggest that young MPs, unlike some other political outgroups, are not marginalized by their superiors despite exhibiting certain traits typically associated with political outgroups.