@EdWorkingPaper{ai26-1511,
title = "Why Are Bureaucrats More Left-Wing?",
author = "Julia Coyoli, Emmerich Davies, Leslie K. Finger, Jonathan Phillips",
institution = "Annenberg Institute at Brown University",
number = "1511",
year = "2026",
month = "July",
URL = "http://www.edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1511",
abstract = {Government employees often have policy beliefs that do not reflect those of the public. Civil servants are frequently more supportive of redistribution, which critics attribute to a state that socializes employees to be self-interested. But left-leaning citizens may instead self-select into public jobs. We test these two explanations using the case of Brazilian teachers. Leveraging selection rules where a meritocratic exam determines employment, we use a regression discontinuity design to compare those who become bureaucrats with those who tried but were unsuccessful. We find that teachers are significantly more left-leaning than the average citizen, but public employment has no further effect on political attitudes, and even makes teachers more conservative on some indicators. Comparing exam-takers, regardless of the outcome, to the Brazilian population, we find that right-leaning citizens simply do not apply. While bureaucrats' political attitudes are unrepresentative of the population, claims attributing their attitudes to state employment overlook self-selection.},
}