Distinct career patterns emerged in multi-level systems where the level of regionalism varies (strength of regional identities and ethno-regionalist parties).There is a deviation from the classic pattern (the US) where politicians use their regional office as a springboard towards national office. In multi-level systems with higher levels of regionalism, the regional level presents attractive positions distinct from the national level (e.g. Scotland/Provinces in Canada). Sometimes national offices are even used as stepping-stone towards regional positions (e.g. Catalonia/Flanders/Wallonia).Yet, the ‘regionalist hypothesis’ remains questionable as existing findings could be improved. The literature remains largely dominated by case-study analysis and not on a comparative basis whilst researchers mainly investigate inter-territorial movements (transfers between arenas) giving little attention to intra-territorial movements (professionalized vs. amateur careers).This paper tests the ‘regionalist hypothesis’ on 4.187 careers in Belgium, Canada, Spain, and the United-Kingdom in 8 regions presenting a weaker regionalism (Wallonia/New Scotland/Castilla-La-Mancha/Wales) and a stronger regionalism (Flanders/Québec/Catalonia/Scotland).
