scholarly journals Electoral Competition, Voter Bias, and Women in Politics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Le Barbanchon ◽  
Julien Sauvagnat
Keyword(s):  
Gender Bias ◽  
Electoral Competition ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Attitudes Toward Women ◽  
Women In Politics ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Gender Earnings Gap ◽  
Earnings Gap

Abstract We quantify the implications of voter bias and electoral competition for politicians’ gender composition. Unfavorable voters’ attitudes toward women and local gender earnings gap correlate negatively with the share of female candidates in Parliamentary elections. Using within-candidate variation across the different polling stations of an electoral district in a given election year, we find that female candidates obtain fewer votes in municipalities with higher gender earnings gaps. We show theoretically that when voters are biased against women, parties facing gender quotas select male candidates in the most contestable districts. We find empirical support for such a strategic party response to voter gender bias. Simulating our calibrated model confirms that competition significantly hinders the effectiveness of gender quotas.

Does the Descriptive Representation of Women Matter? A Comparison of Gendered Differences in Political Attitudes between Voters and Representatives in the European Parliament

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (04) ◽  
pp. 754-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline McEvoy
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Support ◽  
Women In Politics ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Policy ◽  
European Elections ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Gender Balance ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
European Election ◽  
The Eu

Studies expressing concern over the continued underparticipation of women in politics rest on the assumption that increasing the number of female representatives in democracies leads to greater substantive representation of women's policy interests. This article advances the discussion by conducting a comparative analysis of men's and women's attitudes across 27 countries in the European Union. Using the European Election and Candidate Studies 2009, I find that differences between the policy preferences of men and women in the EU do exist and that these differences are replicated between male and female candidates in European elections. The findings provide empirical support for the argument in favor of a greater gender balance in European policy-making institutions.

The Troublesome “Paradox of Gender Quotas”: A Few Methodological Notes on the Margin of an Article by Michael Jankowski and Kamil Marcinkiewicz

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maciej A. Górecki
Keyword(s):  
Recent Article ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Women Candidates ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Methodological Choices ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Paradoxical Effects ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Methodological Aspects ◽  
Electoral Performance

Abstract In a recent article published in Politics & Gender, Michael Jankowski and Kamil Marcinkiewicz (2019) study the effects of gender quotas on the electoral performance of female candidates in open-list proportional representation (OLPR) systems. On the empirical side, their study is a critical reanalysis of the Polish case, in particular the regularities demonstrated in a 2014 study that I coauthored. We argued there that at the micro level (candidate level), the effects of quotas were somewhat “paradoxical”: following the installation of quotas, women candidates tend to perform worse relative to their male counterparts than they did during the pre-quota period. Jankowski and Marcinkiewicz claim to demonstrate that those “paradoxical” effects are minor and thus practically negligible. In this note, I argue that their conclusion is largely a result of the particular methodological choices made by these authors. These choices seem unobvious, debatable, and potentially controversial. The note concludes that we need more reflection and debate on the methodological aspects of analyzing candidates’ electoral success in complex electoral systems, such as multidistrict OLPR. This would greatly facilitate future efforts aimed at an unequivocal examination of the contentious concepts such as the notion of “paradox of gender quotas.”

Private Pensions and the Gender Distribution of Fiscal Welfare

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 500-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Micheál L. Collins
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Tax Policy ◽  
Private Pensions ◽  
Gender Distribution ◽  
Member States ◽  
Current Structure ◽  
Gender Earnings Gap ◽  
Earnings Gap ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Welfare State

The provision of taxation relief to support pension savings has become a large and expensive aspect of the welfare state in many countries. Among OECD member states this exceeds $200 billion in revenue forgone each year. Previous research has consistently found this fiscal welfare to have pronounced regressive distributive outcomes. However, little is known about the gendered impact of these fiscal welfare supports, a void this article addresses. Using data for Ireland the article finds that the current structure of fiscal welfare supports notably favours males over females. Nominal contribution levels are higher among males, and males are more likely to be active contributors to pension savings. The associated tax supports are consequently skewed, with two-thirds received by men and one-third by women. This outcome suggests a continuation of the gender earnings gap into retirement and a discontinuity between longevity expectations and tax policy supports for pension provision.

scholarly journals Political Dynasties and Women Candidates in Indonesia’s 2019 Election

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-49
Author(s):  
Sri Budi Eko Wardani ◽  
Valina Singka Subekti
Keyword(s):  
Gender Bias ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Regional Government ◽  
Local Power ◽  
Detailed Data ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Women Candidates ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Political Networks ◽  
Political Success

In this article, we provide evidence suggesting that almost half (44 per cent) of female candidates elected to Indonesia’s national parliament in 2019 were members of political dynasties. Providing detailed data on the backgrounds of these candidates, including by party and region, we argue that several factors have contributed to their rise. Parties are increasingly motivated – especially in the context of a 4 per cent parliamentary threshold – to nominate candidates who can boost their party’s fortune by attracting a big personal vote. Members of political dynasties (especially those related to regional government heads and other politicians entrenched in local power structures) have access to financial resources and local political networks – increasingly important to political success in Indonesia’s clientelistic electoral system. We show that the rise of these dynastic women candidates is not eliminating gender bias within parties, but is instead marginalising many qualified female party candidates, including incumbents.

Women, the Parliament and Political Participation in Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cholpon Turdalieva ◽  
Medet Tiulegenov
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Professional Status ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
The Public ◽  
Women's Participation

This paper explores women’s participation in parliamentary elections in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. Using various methods, it offers an interdisciplinary perspective on factors that affect the likelihood of women participating successfully in parliamentary elections. This study supports the general literature on the effects of gender quotas and proportional representation, but its results on other factors are mixed. The factor of financial resources is significant, though its impact has been reduced with the introduction of gender quotas, while other factors—such as social status—may not be particularly important. The public perception of a woman in politics is not the greatest obstacle to women’s representation, and a female candidate’s professional status may often be attractive to party leaders.

scholarly journals A Feminine Advantage? Delineating the Effects of Feminine Trait and Feminine Issue Messages on Evaluations of Female Candidates

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Nichole M. Bauer
Keyword(s):  
Women In Politics ◽  
Role Congruity Theory ◽  
Role Congruity ◽  
Feminine Trait ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
Congruity Theory ◽  
Underrepresentation Of Women ◽  
Elected Office

AbstractCurrent scholarship offers conflicting conclusions about whether female candidates have a feminine advantage or a disadvantage. Previous work does not consider whether voters respond similarly to all types of messages that might emphasize feminine stereotypes, such as feminine trait and feminine issue messages. I argue that voters will respond differently to trait-based feminine messages relative to issue-based feminine messages. I test the effects of trait-based and issue-based feminine messages through two survey experiments. The results consistently show that emphasizing feminine traits harms female candidates, whereas emphasizing feminine issues helps female candidates. I use role congruity theory to argue that feminine traits activate feminine stereotypes about women, and feminine issues do not activate these stereotypes. I also show that trait-based and issue-based feminine messages affect Democratic and Republican female candidates in very different ways. These results have implications for the ability of women to win elected office and reverse the pervasive underrepresentation of women in politics.

scholarly journals Women Politicians and Parliamentary Elections in Ukraine and Georgia in 2012

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tetiana Kostiuchenko ◽  
Tamara Martsenyuk ◽  
Svitlana Oksamytna
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Women Politicians ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Parliamentary Election ◽  
Women In Politics ◽  
Gender Quotas ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
Female Politicians

<p class="EW-abstract"><strong>Abstract:</strong> Post-communist countries undergoing social transformations in the last twenty years needed to implement political and economic reforms. Changes also had to support the principles of equality in the access to power, specifically gender quotas in executive and legislative branches of government and within political parties. The events in Ukraine and Georgia in 2004-2005 known as the “colour revolutions” gave impulse to the promotion of equality and implementation of reforms. However, the number of women participating in national politics in both countries remains low. This paper proposes an analysis of gender equality principles during the parliamentary election campaigns in Ukraine and Georgia in 2012 from the perspective of women’s participation in politics and their self-representation as politicians. This empirical study covers public attitudes towards women in politics and examines networks of female parliamentarians. The findings raise hopes for better representation of women in politics as female politicians promote them from the top down, and mass public perception of gender equality principles set the ground for bottom-up activism.  <strong></strong></p><p class="EW-Keyword">Keywords: Gender Equality, Women Politicians, Public Attitudes, Social Network Analysis (SNA)</p>

scholarly journals Invalid Ballots and Electoral Competition

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gani Aldashev ◽  
Giovanni Mastrobuoni
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Competition ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Electoral Fraud ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Electoral Outcome ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Rational Allocation ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
High Share

In close elections, a sufficiently high share of invalid ballots—if driven by voter mistakes or electoral fraud—can jeopardize the electoral outcome. We study how the closeness of electoral race relates to the share of invalid ballots, under the traditional paper-ballot hand-counted voting technology. Using a large micro-level data set from the Italian parliamentary elections in 1994–2001, we find a strong robust negative relationship between the margin of victory of the leading candidate over the nearest rival and the share of invalid ballots. We argue that this relationship is not driven by voter mistakes, protest, or electoral fraud. The explanation that garners most support is that of rational allocation of effort by election officers and party representatives, with higher rates ofdetectionof invalid ballots in close elections.

Do Women Respond Less to Performance Pay? Building Evidence from Multiple Experiments

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-454
Author(s):  
Oriana Bandiera ◽  
Greg Fischer ◽  
Andrea Prat ◽  
Erina Ytsma
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Work ◽  
Bayesian Hierarchical Model ◽  
Performance Pay ◽  
Average Effect ◽  
Performance Incentives ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Bayesian Hierarchical ◽  
Gender Earnings Gap ◽  
Earnings Gap

Existing empirical work raises the hypothesis that performance pay—whatever its output gains—may widen the gender earnings gap because women may respond less to incentives. We evaluate this possibility by aggregating evidence from existing experiments on performance incentives with male and female subjects. Using a Bayesian hierarchical model, we estimate both the average effect and heterogeneity across studies. We find that the gender response difference is close to zero and heterogeneity across studies is small, while performance pay increases output by 0.36 standard deviations on average. The data thus support agency theory for men and women alike. (JEL C11, C90, J16, J31, J33)

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