About Me
I'm a political scientist in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. My office is 227 Sanford Hall, you can reach me by email at nicholas.carnes@duke.edu, and you can find me on Twitter at @Nick_Carnes_.
Most of my research focuses on why so few working-class citizens (people employed in manual labor, service industry, and clerical jobs) go on to become politicians and how their virtual absence from our political institutions affects public policy.
My first book, White-Collar Government: The Hidden Role of Class in Economic Policy Making (University of Chicago Press, 2013), uses data on Congress, state legislatures, and city councils to measure the effects of this phenomenon. It argues that, like ordinary citizens, politicians from different social classes have different views about economic issues, and that leaders from the working class bring a more pro-worker perspective to public office. These differences, coupled with the virtual absence of politicians from the working-class, ultimately skew the policymaking process towards outcomes that are more in line with the upper class's economic interests. As the old saying goes, if you're not at the table, you're on the menu.
Why, then, aren't working-class Americans at the table? My second book, The Cash Ceiling: Why Only the Rich Run for Office--and What We Can Do About It (Princeton University Press, September 2018), asks about the causes of white-collar government, that is, what exactly prevents qualified working-class Americans from holding elected politcal office. It argues that workers themselves and voters are not to blame--there are lots of qualified workers out there, and when they run they tend to do fine--but rather that workers seldom hold office because the practical burdens associated with running (time, lost income, etc.) make it all but impossible for them to launch campaigns, and the political and civic leaders who could help them usually pass over qualified workers in favor of more familiar white-collar candiates. These obstacles aren't insurmountable, however, and The Cash Ceiling discusses some of the reforms that might help, like targeted programs that identify recruit, train, and support working-class candidates.
With my co-author Noam Lupu, I've also published several cross-national studies on the causes and effects of government by the privileged around the world, and we're currently working on a book-length project that asks why the rich so consistently govern in virtually every electoral democracy on the planet.
With my co-editor Lilly Goren, I also recently published an edited volume on The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and we're working on a follow-up volume covering the films and shows released in 2021 and 2022.
More broadly, I'm also interested in American democracy, the politics of the energy transition and climate change, and the U.S. foster care system. I also co-founded the American Political Science Association Organized Section on Economic and Social Class Inequality.