Professionalisation and Political Elites

Abstract

The panel focuses on the phenomenon of professionalization analyzed in the broad context of the functioning of political elites. The panel participants, representing various research approaches and methodological orientations, present the results of the research devoted to the conditions and consequences of the professionalization (or lack thereof) of the contemporary political life analyzed in both individual and collective dimensions. Not only the in-depth considerations concerning terminology and conceptualization are presented, but also the results of findings relating to specific cases (including Swiss Parliament, Dutch Parliament, European Parliament), as well as the studies conducted in a longitudinal perspective. All papers create a multi-faceted diagnosis of the challenges and threats related to the broadly understood professionalization of political careers in the crisis of a representative democracy. This diagnosis encourages us to reflect on the consequences of these dynamic and, as it seems, not fully controlled transformations.