Abstract
Women have historically been underrepresented in politics. However, in the last few decades, more and more women have been elected to both upper and lower houses, particularly in Spain. Social media has become one >of the main channels for women to gain visibility, but the issue of unequal distribution of power and influence between men and women remains. This paper sheds light on gender differences among politicians on Twitter by analyzing the social media activity and influence of 277 of the 350 Members of the Spanish Congress of Deputies from March to June 2020. Our research shows there are still major gender differences regarding audience figures and amplification and that both male and female politicians still largely retweet more men than women. In addition, we found significant differences between parties and across the political spectrum, although these are less prominent (albeit not neutralized) in parties with a female leader. This is in keeping with studies that have found broad similarities between male and female politicians’ communicative practices, but a persistently large gap to be bridged in terms of their online influence. Female leaders are proposed as a means to bridge this gap.
Highlights
In 2007 a new Equality Law came into force, requiring political parties to ensure minimum gender representation of 40% in candidates running for office (Verge 2010)
Research has shown that women have historically been discriminated against in politics
Spain has been no exception when it comes to a gender imbalance in politics, and women have achieved increased visibility and power only in the last decade
Summary
In 2007 a new Equality Law came into force, requiring political parties to ensure minimum gender representation of 40% in candidates running for office (Verge 2010). This helped to balance the male-dominated political culture (see Table 1) visible in Spanish politics since the transition to democracy Notwithstanding the ongoing inequality in Spanish politics, the number of elected women has increased in the last decade, and Spain ranks sixteenth in the world in terms of women’s representation in parliament (Verge and Wiesehomeier 2019). Members were retweeted by fellow party members (internal amplification), which can be linked to the internal communication strategies of the parties analyzed
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