Judgments about the capabilities of city councillors and support for female representation on city council

Abstract

Building on an earlier analysis of this data set, this study investigates the association between respondents' gender-stereotyping of city councillors with respect to work-related capabilities and their support for female representation on city council under conditions of low information. The earlier research found substantial gender-stereotypic bias in respondents' judgments about the office-related capabilities of male and female city council members. This analysis finds that the more positively women's capabilities to perform in office are evaluated, the more support there is for increased female representation on city council. In general, being “qualified” gets a candidate support but being female, for the most part, does not garner additional support. The double bind of this situation, however, is that female candidates are at a disadvantage because voters (in the sample) see men generically as being more able to meet the demands of serving on city council and increased female representation on city council can not occur unless individual female candidates are elected.