Political Primacy and MSW Students' Interest in Running for Office

Patrick Meehan

doi:10.18060/22576

Abstract

Although social workers are understood to participate in politics more than the general public, little is known about their interest in running for office. To understand how individuals in “helping” professions like social work may think about running for office, this study introduces the concept of political primacy. Political primacy refers to the value individuals assign to elected office’s ability to make a difference, relative to alternative ways of making a difference. Using data from the Michigan Law & Social Work Study, representing a sample of 545 MSW and 200 JD students across Michigan, political primacy was shown to significantly predict MSW students’ interest in running for office at the local level. Consequently, the more MSW students see elected office as a more effective way of making a difference than alternatives, the more interested they will be in running for office. Implications for social work education are discussed, including the socialization of social work students into politics.

Highlights

Social workers are understood to participate in politics more than the general public, little is known about their interest in running for office
Many of these schools describe their students as “change agents,” or consider changing society as an outcome of their instruction. It is not clear whether social work education emphasizes the political system in general, or elected office in particular, in relation to making change. It has been understood for some time that social workers participate in politics to a greater degree than the general public, as it concerns voting (Ezell, 1993; Parker & Sherraden, 1992; Ritter, 2008; Wolk, 1981), less is known about their interest in and attitude toward running for office
Social work is understood as a helping profession, though, so the instrumental benefit may be of value to social workers, to the extent they see elected office as a way of helping others

Summary

Introduction

Social workers are understood to participate in politics more than the general public, little is known about their interest in running for office. Social work is understood as a helping profession, though, so the instrumental benefit may be of value to social workers, to the extent they see elected office as a way of helping others. Political primacy represents a way of quantifying how social workers (and others) value elected office as a way of helping others.

Results

Conclusion