German social workers as professional politicians: career paths and social advocacy

ABSTRACT

Social workers try to influence the political process in favour of their clients in various ways. The most direct way of doing so, entry into electoral and professional politics, is surprisingly underresearched. In this article, we take a first look at the political careers of (former) social workers on the federal, state and local government level in Germany. Starting from theories of political professionalisation, we illustrate the extent to which they remain in contact with their original occupational field and discuss their capacity for and interest in advocatory interest representation of marginalised and deprived social groups. We conclude that the institutions of professional politics in Germany establish both opportunities and restraints for a meaningful substantive representation of clients’ interests. A more detailed analysis of its effectiveness is still lacking.

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG

Soziale Arbeit beansprucht für sich, die Interessen sozial benachteiligter Bevölkerungsgruppen advokatorisch in politischen Prozessen zu vertreten. Die direkteste Form dieser Interessenvertretung, die Ausübung eines professionellen politischen Mandats durch Sozialarbeiter*innen, ist bislang kaum untersucht. Dieser Aufsatz gibt somit einen ersten Einblick in politische Karrieren deutscher (ehemaliger) Sozialarbeiter*innen auf Bundes-, Landes- und kommunaler Ebene. Ausgehend von Theorien politischer Professionalisierung wird den Fragen nachgegangen, inwiefern diese Abgeordneten den Kontakt zu ihrem ehemaligen Berufsfeld der Sozialen Arbeit weiterhin pflegen und ob sie dem professionsethischen Auftrag der Vertretung von Interessen marginalisierter Gruppen nachkommen. Wir zeigen, dass die Institutionen der deutschen Berufspolitik advokatorische Interessenvertretung sowohl ermöglichen als auch behindern können.

KEYWORDS:

• Social workers
• political carreers
• social advocacy
• Germany

SCHLAGWÖRTER:

• Soziale Arbeit
• politische Karrieren
• advokatorische Interessenvertretung
• Deutschland

Acknowledgements

Thanks to David Schlecht und Erik Weißhaar for their support in the process of data collection and to Christin Reuter for editorial and layout support. Special thanks go to Tracy Rammler for brushing up our English.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The monthly allowances for Munich city councillors is at 2.899€ (April 2021). This is in addition to their salary in their actual ‘real’ occupation. Employers are compensated for missed working hours. Self-employed councillors receive additional attendance fees.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sigrid Leitner

Sigrid Leitner is a comparative political scientist and Professor of Social Policy at Cologne University of Applied Sciences (Germany). Her research interests include care policies in international comparison as well as the role of social work(ers) in politics. She co-edited the volume ‘Social Work and the Making of Social Policy’ published by Bristol University Press.

Klaus Stolz

Klaus Stolz is a comparative political scientist and Professor of British and American Social and Cultural Studies at Chemnitz University of Technology (Germany). His research interests include political professionalisation and political careers as well as British politics, devolution and territorial politics. His publications have appeared in the European Journal of Political Research, Regional and Federal Studies, British Politics and other international journals.