Electing Women to the Dáil: Gender Cues and the Irish Voter

Abstract

At no time in history has the number of women elected to Dáil Éireann surpassed 14 per cent of the total membership. In spite of significant social changes, the use of a proportional electoral system and no obvious bias among voters, the number of female TDs remains stubbornly low by international standards. This paper examines why, if the prospects for women's election are relatively good, so few women end up in public office. Using both aggregate and survey data, the issues of incumbency advantage, the electorate's attitudes and the candidates' differing experiences of the political process are explored. The evidence suggests that, all else equal, female candidates have as good a chance of being elected as their male counterparts, and the real difficulties in achieving equitable representation lie elsewhere, in the candidate emergence and nomination stages of the election game.