Abstract
AbstractAs governments tackle the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, both the role of women in governments and the specific effect of the pandemic on women have come under scrutiny. This research note examines the descriptive representation of women in the U.K. government's response to the coronavirus. It finds that 43% of the government's daily press briefings featured an all-male lineup with no female politician or expert present. In particular, female politicians are missing, with only one female cabinet member ever leading the briefing. Women's (in)visibility raises concerns about the legitimacy of democratic decisions and likely has policy consequences: women's absence may exacerbate gendered inequalities resulting from the crisis.
Highlights
As governments tackle the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, both the role of women in governments and the specific effect of the pandemic on women have come under scrutiny
This research note examines the descriptive representation of women in the U.K. response to the coronavirus
The sex of politicians and experts was hand coded by the researcher by viewing the daily briefings
Summary
As governments tackle the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, both the role of women in governments and the specific effect of the pandemic on women have come under scrutiny. This research note examines the descriptive representation of women in the U.K. government’s response to the coronavirus It finds that 43% of the government’s daily press briefings featured an all-male lineup with no female politician or expert present. This research note examines the descriptive representation of women in the U.K. response to the coronavirus It finds that 42.5% of the government’s daily briefings featured an all-male lineup with no female politician or expert present. This has normative and symbolic consequences for the legitimacy of the government response and possible policy consequences for the current and future gendered impact of COVID-19. Citizens may reflect these normative concerns; experimental evidence suggests that voters’ perceived procedural legitimacy of a government decision increases when there is a gender balance among those deciding the outcome (Clayton, O’Brien, and Piscopo 2019)
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