Méon, P-G & Oosterlinck, K. (Université libre de Bruxelles), in collaboration with Lacroix, J. (Université Paris-Saclay), 2020-2022

We contend that political dynasties differ according to their origin and that pro-democratic dynasties –– those whose founder was a defender of democratic ideals –– show stronger support for democracy. Using the vote by the French parliament in 1940 of an enabling act granting full powers to Marshal Pétain, thereby ending the Third Republic, and data collected from the biographies of parliamentarians, we observe that members of a democratic dynasty were 9.6 to 15.1 percentage points more likely to oppose the act than other parliamentarians. We report evidence that socialization inside and outside the parliament shaped the vote of parliamentarians.