Abstract

In this project, we employ original data on the future positions of United States Attorneys (USAs) to assess the influence of formal qualifications in structuring the post-service careers of a group of elite political figures. Compared to USAs who are white men, we find that presidents are significantly more likely to nominate USAs who are females or minorities to positions on the federal bench and in the upper federal bureaucracy. In other words, and after controlling for a number of additional individual-level differences, we find the same professional credential—service as a USA—to be more advantageous in the context of nomination to these positions for traditionally underrepresented individuals than for white men. We also find that more fine-grained qualifications influence the likelihood of promotion; in some instances, those individual qualifications also operate differently across demographically traditional and nontraditional nominees.

摘要

在这个项目中，我们使用美国检察官 (USAs) 未来职位的原始数据来评估正式资格对构建一群精英政治人物的离职后职业生涯的影响。与白人男性相比，我们发现总统更有可能提名女性或少数族裔美国人担任联邦法官和上层联邦官僚机构的职位。换句话说，在控制了一些额外的个人水平差异之后，我们发现相同的专业证书——作为美国的服务——在提名这些职位的情况下对传统上代表性不足的个人比对白人男性更有优势。我们还发现，更细粒度的资格会影响晋升的可能性；在某些情况下，