Virtues in Political Practice
Insights From an Interview Study With Swedish Parliamentarians
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13053508 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joel Martinsson (0000-0002-9058-5115, Linnaeus University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-07 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Politics and Governance (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2183-2463 • E-ISSN: 2183-2463 |
| Publisher | Cogitatio (PUBLISHER • PT) |
| DOI | 10.17645/pag.9326 |
| OpenAlex | W4409215006 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 30 |
Which virtues, and why these, are most important for politicians? While philosophical discussions on virtues in politics are extensive, empirical investigations into the virtues politicians themselves value remain limited. This article addresses this gap through in-depth interviews with 74 Swedish parliamentarians. Analyzing these interviews using a structured multi-level coding approach, I make three main claims. First, the cardinal virtue in the Swedish parliament is the ability to separate ideas from those who hold them; this principle is seen as vital for fostering political trust within parliament and with the public. Second, virtue pluralism is essential within parliamentary and party groups as the virtues politicians prioritize depend on the broader virtue composition of their group. Third, virtues can be categorized into five key themes—entrepreneurial, social, integrity, wisdom, and craftsman—reflecting the multifaceted nature of parliamentary representative roles and responsibilities. Collectively, these findings underscore the interdependent nature of virtues in political practice, where the value of specific virtues is shaped by group dynamics and the presence or absence of the cardinal virtue. This study provides novel empirical insights into how national political leaders perceive and value virtues in politics, contributing to the literature on political ethics, representation, and leadership
Political science · Politics · Public relations · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Law · Political Science Research and Education · Public Administration · Social Science and Policy Research
Considerations on representative government.
Abductive Analysis
The Good Representative
Epistemological and methodological bases of naturalistic inquiry
In Our Name
When the State Meets the Street
Political Conduct
Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
The Ethics of Representation
Virtues and Vices
Abductive Analysis in Qualitative Inquiry
Modern Moral Philosophy
One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis
Political Responsibility as a Virtue
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Party-constrained Policy Responsiveness
Elite Interviews and State Politics Research
Interviewing the Political Elite
The Parliament as a Gendered Workplace
Dilemmas of Powerlessness
Why We Need to Return to the Ethics of Political Representation
Validity and Reliability Issues In Elite Interviewing
Fieldwork in Political Theory
Political Theory in an Ethnographic Key
Representation Rethought
Political Philosophy's Methodological Moment and the Rise of Public Political Philosophy
Theory Construction in Qualitative Research
Flexible Coding of In-depth Interviews
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |