ABSTRACT
Comparative research is always demanding, of course. The study was done in three Western democracies. The practical reason for selecting these three was that in the US, Sweden, and the Netherlands there was a convergence at a particular time of scholarly interest and research resources. The chances for a person of working class background and no university education to achieve a local leadership position is only 6 percent for administrative positions and 16 percent for city councillors. This corroborates the classical doctrine that social status is indeed linked to political power, in these democracies as in other systems. One of the major questions posed in comparative research is the existence of distinctive political cultures—their character, sources of origin, and relevance. From the leadership perspective there are many serious problems and effective action is difficult to achieve. Only 25 percent report effective action in the US and the Netherlands, and only 12 percent in Sweden.
