What's in a name? Current effects of family politicization on legislative candidates’ career start in Belgium

In this article we measure the effect of inherited political capital in the form of family politicization on legislative candidates’ recruitment age and early careers. We differentiate the concept of family politicization between a narrow (i.e., party political) and a broad (i.e., non-party-political) interpretation. Results indicate that narrow family politicization is the only type that plays a role in speeding up political recruitment. However, only the route to candidacy is affected by family politicization, whereas for the route to power other factors absorb this effect, mainly the candidates’ pre-electoral party engagement. This implies that candidates from narrowly politicized families do not merely rely on inherited political capital to get elected, which rejects a popular opinion. On the other hand, the result that parental talking and brokerage professions speed up the candidates’ election, indicate that the home environment does not play a neutral role in the early career path either.

► We measure the effect of family politicization on legislative candidates’ recruitment age and early careers. ► We differentiate between a narrow (party political) and a broad (non-party-political) interpretation. ► Narrow family politicization is the only type that plays a role in political recruitment (candidacy). ► Pre-electoral party engagement, higher among candidates from narrowly politicized families, mainly affects getting elected. ► Political family members do not merely rely on their inherited political capital or get free entrance in politics.