"White, middleclass men who belong to the classic layer that goes into governmental service."

Mehrere Übersetzungen sind möglich; "regierungsstellend" kann man nicht so direkt in Englisch wiedergeben.

white, middleclass men from a/the level of society that traditionally fills government posts

Right. Or: " . . . the layer from which the government draws employees."

Al, that's getting away from what the German that we have before us.

geht ganz schlicht und einfach:


the governing class.

Wow, I think Todd has it. Being far too British for even my liking, I was going to suggest something to do with public schools and even old school ties. Thank you, Todd, for saving me from the propagation of something that [one fills in one's own ending].

I don't think that white, middleclass men represent the governing class; certainly in the US they tend to come from upper-middle to upper class backgrounds. But perhaps we're not talking about the US here...

@ Bob.C: it was a little clumsy - I admit. Despite that, I disagree. And Schicht doesn't have anything to do with layers here, unless the men in question have 3 t-shirts on.

@ Todd: You've nailed it with that one!

I think dude is probably right. It does not appear the author is referring to a governing class.

Rather, the reference seems to be to a layer of the middle class that regularly supplies either functionaries to fill government posts -- so regularly that it is "classic."

This is a classic case of requiring more context.