Selection of Public Servants into Politics

Abstract

Countries differ substantially in how they deal with politicians� that come from the public sector. Most constitutions include� incompatibility and� ineligibility rules� due� to� concerns about conflicts� of interest� and the politicization of the public� service.�� We study� how these rules affect� the attractiveness of parliamentary mandates� for public� servants and� thus� the selection into� politics. We compile� a� novel� dataset that� captures the� fraction� of public servants in 71 national� legislatures as well as the respective (in)compatibility regimes. On average, there� are� 7 percentage points� fewer public� servants in parliaments where� a strict regime� is in force.�� Supplementary evidence� shows� that� the� fraction� of public� servants� in parliament is positively correlated with government� consumption� as well as the absence� of corruption.Political selection, public servants, incompatibility, political representation, corruption, government consumption