Gender Flashcards
Evidence that women under-represented in politics?
Paxton et al (2007)
- 10% of countries have >30% of women in national parliament
- Only 30 women become top political executive in country
Paxton et al (2007)
- 10% of countries have >30% of women in national parliament
- Only 30 women become top political executive in country
- % of women in parliament 1975-2005:
(a) quadrupled in Western industrial countries
(b) more than tripled in Latin America and Africa
Evidence on aggregate-level gender gap in vote choice in Britain
Shorrocks (2016)
Little/no statistically significant aggregate-level gender gap in vote choice in elections since 70s
Evidence that women more/less supportive of different issues?
McAllister and Hayes (1998):
(a) Women more supportive of feminist values, social spending and welfare state
(b) Women less supportive of market-based solutions
Campbell, Childs and Lovenduski (2010)
Attitudes to gender roles and equality in Britain
At both the mass and elite level, women:
- Have more feminist attitudes to gender equality
- More hostile to traditional gender roles
- More supportive of measures to improve descriptive representation of women
Evidence that female legislators propose different types of bills
Schwindt-Bayer (2006)
- Argentina, Colombia and Costa Rica
- women initiated 11% more women’s issue bills (relating to children, family, education and health)
Evidence that female legislators have different voting records to men
- USA (Swers 2002) – congress women more likely to vote for women’s issue bills (e.g. Family and Medical Leave Act), even after controlling for party and district characteristics
- New Zealand (Grey 2002) – conservative women crossed party lines to support pro-female bill about parental leave, showing significance of gender across all parties
Swers (2002)
- In US, congress women more likely to vote for women’s issue bills (e.g. Family and Medical Leave Act), even after controlling for party and district characteristics
- Caveat:
(a) Republican women less likely to cross party lines following Republican majority in next 104th Congress
(b) whereas results above based on analysis of Congress in which Democrats controlled House
(c) so Republicans had less power/leverage because cost of defection lower given lack of majority anyway
Schwindt-Bayer (2006)
Female legislators in Argentina, Colombia and Costa Rica
- Women initiated 11% more women’s issue bills (relating to children, family, education and health)
Evidence that female legislators systematically different to men on non-women’s issues
- Infrastructure (Chattopadhyay and Duflo 2004):
(a) Randomised policy experiment (India)
(b) Leaders invest more in infrastructure directly relevant to needs of own gender - Crime (Kathlene 1995):
(a) Female legislators in Colorado House of Representatives more likely to introduce bills focused on crime prevention and victim’s rights
(b) Men more likely to introduce bills focused on stricter sentencing and longer prison terms - War and foreign policy (Conover and Sapiro 1993):
(a) Women more likely to be wary/fearful of war/foreign interventions
Chattopadhyay and Duflo (2004)
(a) Randomised policy experiment (India)
(b) Leaders invest more in infrastructure directly relevant to needs of own gender
Kathlene (1995)
Women and crime
(a) Female legislators in Colorado House of Representatives more likely to introduce bills focused on crime prevention and victim’s rights
(b) Men more likely to introduce bills focused on stricter sentencing and longer prison terms
Conover and Sapiro (1993)
Women and war
- Women more likely to be wary/fearful of war/foreign interventions
Philips (1998)
Substantive representation of women
- necessary condition for representation of women’s interests = presence of women in decision-making bodies
- Interests discovered during pre-vote discussion and deliberation of legislation
- Women can only have interests represented if female politicians present during policy-making process
Dovi (2007)
Substantive representation of women
- Women have specific needs and interests due to particular life experiences
- Male representatives not always aware of how public policies affect female citizens
Ladam et al (2018)
HIGH-PROFILE FEMALE POLITICIANS INSPIRE WOMEN TO RUN
- Data - US states 1978-2012
- High-profile women in politics have strong large positive effect on probability of women running for office
- Lower interest/knowledge of politics and inequality within household also help explain why women don’t run for political office at same rate as men
Grey (2002)
Female legislators and female bills
- In New Zealand, Conservative women crossed party lines to support pro-female bill about parental leave, showing significance of gender across all parties
Evidence that female legislators more successful in passing bills of broad interest to women?
Bratton and Haynie (1999) (USA)
Bratton and Haynie (1999)
US evidence that female legislators more successful in passing bills of broad interest to women
Methodological challenges in separating influence of women from their party
- Causal mechanism – are more ‘female-friendly’ pieces of legislation passed due to female legislators, or are already liberal parties (already likely to pass such legislation) also more likely to select female candidates?
- Proposing vs passing legislation – strong evidence that female legislators systematically propose different types of bills, but more mixed evidence about whether those bills successfully passed
Shorrocks (2016)
Aggregate gender vote gap (Britain)
- Britain – little/no statistically significant aggregate-level gender gap in vote choice in elections since 70s
Evidence of history of gender vote gap
- Cross-national evidence:
(a) ‘traditional’ gender gap until 70s
(b) followed by period of little/no gender gap
(c) then emergence of new ‘modern’ gender gap from 80s
Evidence of cohort differences in gender vote gap?
Shorrocks (2018)
- Data - Europe and Canada
- Older cohorts of women more right-wing
- Younger cohorts of women more left-wing
Evidence of cross-national variation in emergence of modern gender gap?
Campbell (2006)
- In Britain, not all younger cohorts show ‘modern’ gender gap
Campbell (2006)
In Britain, not all younger cohorts show ‘modern’ gender gap
Explanation of:
- why not all younger cohorts confirm to trend of ‘modern’ gender gap
- cross-national variation in extent to which gender gaps changing/stable
Shorrocks (2017)
- Broad trend driven by modernisation and esp. secularisation
- But mediated by early socialisation, w/political context and ruling party during formative years shaping vote choice throughout life
Shorrocks (2017)
Explains cross-country variation in change in gender vote gap
- broad trend mediated by early socialisation (w/political context and ruling party during formative years shaping vote choice throughout life)
Verba et al (1978)
In 1970s, men voted at significantly higher rates than women
Evidence of change in gender gap in electoral participation over time
- In decades following enfranchisement, women’s voting participation trailed men (significant gender gap)
(a) Verba et al (1978) – during 70s, men voted at significantly higher rates than women - Carreras (2018)
(a) No gender gap in electoral participation (if anything, women slightly more likely to vote on average)
Evidence of cross-national variation in gender gap in turnout
Kittilson (2016)
(a) USA – higher % of women voted in 2012 presidential election
(b) Germany – gender voting gap of almost 8% in favour of men
Kittilson (2016)
Gender gap in electoral participation:
(a) USA – higher % of women voted in 2012 presidential election
(b) Germany – gender voting gap of almost 8% in favour of men
Blais et al (2019)
Gender gap in turnout (2nd order elections)
- Evidence - persistent and significant gender gap in turnout in 2nd order elections across 26 advanced democracies
- Reason - lower interest in and knowledge of politics among women
Caveat to evidence that gender gap in electoral participation effectively closed?
- Blais et al (2019):
(a) Persistent and significant gender gap in turnout in 2nd order elections across 26 advanced democracies
(b) Reason - lower interest in and knowledge of politics among women
Cross-national evidence of gender gap in non-electoral forms of political participation?
Coffe and Bolzendahl (2010)
- Women 33% less likely to engage in various forms of political participation than men across 18 advanced democracies
- Especially political party membership and collective activism
Why gender gap in electoral participation closed far more quickly than gap in non-electoral forms of participation
Voting requires fewest resources, like time and information, which women often lack
Coffe and Bolzendahl (2010)
- Women 33% less likely to engage in various forms of political participation than men across 18 advanced democracies
- Especially political party membership and collective activism
- Political interest consistently highly statistically significant and large effect in regressions explaining gender gaps in non-electoral participation
US evidence of gender gap in non-electoral political participation
Burns, Schlozman and Verba (2001)
- Women consistently less likely to:
(a) Make campaign contributions
(b) Join political organisations
(c) Write letters to politicians
Burns, Schlozman and Verba (2001)
Women consistently less likely to:
(a) Make campaign contributions
(b) Join political organisations
(c) Write letters to politicians
Evidence of success of men vs women when running for election
Seltzer et al (1997)
- Men and women, broadly, do similarly well in elections
Seltzer et al (1997)
Men and women, broadly, do similarly well in elections
Evidence of increasing representation of women in parliament in recent decades?
Paxton et al (2007)
- % of women in parliament 1975-2005:
(a) quadrupled in Western industrial countries
(b) more than tripled in Latin America and Africa
Lawless (2015)
1a. Women 16% less likely to consider running for office
1b. 40% less likely to actually run for office
1c. Gender gap does not vary w/income, age, race or profession
- Party gatekeepers mostly male and tend to identify/recruit candidates from male-dominated networks
Evidence that women less likely to consider running for and actually run for office
Lawless (2015)
In the USA:
(a) Women 16% less likely to consider running for office
(b) 40% less likely to actually run for office
(c) Gender gap does not vary w/income, age, race or profession
Evidence of gender gap in turnout
Carreras (2018)
No gender gap in electoral participation w/women, if anything, slightly more likely to vote
Evidence of gender inequalities within households
- Women spend more time on housework than males, even when both partners work full-time (Knudsen and Waerness 2008)
- Family obligations lead women to work part-time (Schlozman et al 1999)
Knudsen and Waerness (2008)
Women spend more time on housework than males, even when both partners work full-time
Schlozman et al (1999)
- Family obligations lead women to work part-time
2. Women’s political participation decreases with hours worked, but men’s doesn’t
Evidence that gender inequalities explain gender gaps in political behaviour
- Rotolo (2000):
(a) After marriage, women spend more time on housework
(b) marriage associated with decrease in political participation among women (but not men)
(c) Stronger decrease in political participation for resource-demanding activities (e.g. collective action), indicating lack of resource (time) resulting from gender inequality within household explains gender gap in participation - Schlozman et al (1999):
(a) women’s political participation decreases w/hours worked, but men’s doesn’t
(b) indicates unequal division of household labour impacts political participation of women
Rotolo (2000)
Impact of marriage on political participation
(a) After marriage, women spend more time on housework
(b) marriage associated w/ decrease in political participation among women (but not men)
(c) Stronger decrease in political participation for resource-demanding activities (e.g. collective action), indicating lack of resource (time) resulting from gender inequality within household explains gender gap in participation
Evidence of gender gap in political interest and knowledge
Kittilson and Schwindt-Bayer (2012):
In 31 countries, women have:
(a) lower political interest and knowledge
(b) less frequent political discussions
Kittilson and Schwindt-Bayer (2012):
In 31 countries, women have:
(a) lower political interest and knowledge
(b) less frequent political discussions
Shorrocks (2018)
Trends in the gender gap by cohort
- Firm evidence that in Europe and Canada:
(a) Older cohorts of women more right-wing
(b) Younger cohorts of women more left-wing - Trend explained by secularisation (greater religiosity = key reason older women vote right) + economics preferences:
(a) Older women more right-wing despite economic preferences (due to religiosity)
(b) Younger women more left-wing, in line w/economic preferences (due to decline in religiosity)
(c) Women consistently have more left-wing economic preferences - No support for modernisation theory