Candidate Gender Research Articles

Closing the Gap: Gender and Constituency Candidate Nomination in the 2013 Bundestag Election

Since the adoption of candidate gender quotas, women have always fared better in the “second” or PR tier of Bundestag elections than in the “first” or plurality tier, where quotas do not apply. This gap, however, has been closing. In the 2009 Bundestag election, 27 percent of the major parties' direct mandate candidates were women compared to almost 30 percent in 2013. All parties experienced an increase in the percentage of women among their nominees for direct mandates between 2009 and 2013. Why have the numbers of female candidates for the 299 directly elected Bundestag constituencies been increasing? This increase is puzzling because gender quotas have not been extended to this tier of the electoral system and candidate selection rules have not changed. This article explores five potential mechanisms that may be driving the observed rise in women nominated as constituency candidates. I argue that the main reasons for these increases lie in the advantages female incumbents incur, the openings presented when male incumbents retire, and the diffusion of female candidates across parties and neighboring Wahlkreise after one woman manages to win a direct mandate. I develop these conclusions by comparing candidate nominations and direct mandate winners in the 2009 and 2013 Bundestag elections.

The Effects of Gender-Bending on Candidate Evaluations

A candidate's gender affects vote choice, but the manner in which candidates can influence the effects of their gender is not well understood. I address candidates’ strategies based on gender stereotypes, that is, how voters are influenced by rhetoric that is either consistent (gender-reinforcing) or inconsistent (gender-bending) with gender stereotypes. These strategic choices are particularly important because of women's underrepresentation in American politics. Employing an experimental design, I found that male and female candidates who used gender-bending rhetoric were able to overturn stereotypes by persuading and priming voters. Male candidates were particularly successful. This was contrary to prior findings that consistency—at least in terms of party—is a superior strategy. These results have important implications for understanding how gender stereotypes evolve throughout a campaign to influence voters.

Gender stereotypes as a double-edged sword in political advertising

Today, more women are seeking public office in elections at all levels. Studies have thus drawn attention to the use of political advertising by female candidates. In the current research, we explore the persuasion effects of gender stereotypes. Gender stereotypes are proposed to be either an asset or a liability depending on the particulars of campaign theme and advertising style. Through two experiments (with samples of 281 and 270 eligible voters, respectively), participants made inferences about unfamiliar candidates based on stimuli manipulated in the ad. Campaign theme was manipulated in the contexts of candidates’ gendered personality traits and issue domain. Administration of the experiments was performed via a shopping mall intercept method. The experimental results indicated that congruity between candidate gender and campaign theme would enhance a positive political ad. Female candidates showing ‘feminine’ traits, or focusing on ‘soft’ issues, could encourage voters’ favourable evaluations and increase their voting intention. Conversely, it was more advantageous for men to campaign with a focus on ‘masculine’ traits or ‘hard’ issues. However, when resorting to an attack ad, the opposite patterns held true: i.e. complementarity between candidate gender and campaign theme enhanced persuasion in advertising. This study concludes by discussing political advertising strategies for female candidates in a seemingly male-dominated political sphere.

Organizational Citizenship and Selection: Does Candidate Gender Matter?

A recent study by Podsakoff et al. (2011) reported that candidates for jobs who were judged as displaying higher levels of certain organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) were evaluated more fa...

Gender Bias or Gender Benefit? Estimating the Effect of Candidate Gender on Voting Behavior: A Regression Discontinuity Approach Using Close House Primaries.

Gender Bias or Gender Benefit? Estimating the Effect of Candidate Gender on Voting Behavior: A Regression Discontinuity Approach Using Close House Primaries.

Is It Personal? Gendered Mediation in Newspaper Coverage of Canadian National Party Leadership Contests, 1975–2012

Our study examines the phenomenon of personalization in news coverage of candidates for the leadership of Canadian national political parties. Because the politicization of the personal through newspaper coverage of bodies and intimate lives has different meanings for women and men politicians, we argue that it is important to account for gender differences in levels of personalization. Our analysis of the Globe and Mail newspaper reporting of thirteen party leadership races held between 1975 and 2012 includes eleven competitive women candidates, four of whom won the leadership contest. Conducting a content analysis of 2,463 newspaper articles published over the course of this thirty-seven-year period facilitates comparison of the levels of personalized coverage over time, by leadership contest, and by candidate gender and success. Findings reveal that the amount of personal coverage did not increase over time, as the personalization literature hypothesizes. However, reporting was significantly more likely to “make it personal” for women candidates, as suggested by the literature on media coverage of women politicians. We argue that gendered mediation is largely driving the personalization of political reporting in the Canadian national context

Robust and tissue-independent gender-specific transcript biomarkers

Context: Correct gender assignment in humans at the molecular level is crucial in many scientific disciplines and applied areas.Materials and methods: Candidate gender markers were identified through supervised statistical analysis of genome wide microarray expression data from human blood samples (N = 123, 58 female, 65 male) as a training set. The potential of the markers to predict undisclosed tissue donor gender was tested on microarray data from 13 healthy and 11 cancerous human tissue collections (internal) and external datasets from samples of varying tissue origin. The abundance of some genes in the marker panel was quantified by RT-PCR as alternative analytical technology.Results: We identified and qualified predictive, gender-specific transcript markers based on a set of five genes (RPS4Y1, EIF1AY, DDX3Y, KDM5D and XIST).Conclusion: Gene expression marker panels can be used as a robust tissue- and platform-independent predictive approach for gender determination.

Traits versus Issues

As female candidates may face greater challenges in establishing their “qualifications” for office, coverage of their personal traits may be pernicious, because it tends to de-emphasize substantive qualifications. This study focuses on relative amounts of trait and issue coverage of contests with and without women candidates. We find that races with female candidates yield more coverage of traits than male versus male contests and races with female candidates are less likely to generate issue coverage than trait coverage. Candidate gender and office interact; female gubernatorial candidates are most likely to garner trait coverage and least likely to engender issue coverage.

Gender Stereotypes, Information Search, and Voting Behavior in Political Campaigns

It is still unclear exactly how gender influences vote choice. Using an information processing perspective, we argue that instead of directly influencing vote choice, candidate gender guides the amounts and types of information that voters search for during a campaign, and that effects of gender on vote choice ultimately come from differences in information search influenced by candidate gender. Using two unique experimental datasets, we test the effects of candidate gender on vote choice and information search. We find that subjects change their search based on a candidate’s gender, seeking out more competence-related information about female candidates than they do for male candidates, as well as more information related to “compassion issues.” We also find that evaluations of candidates’ traits and issue positions are important predictors of subjects’ vote choice.

The effect of gender quota laws on the election of women: Lessons from Niger

Synopsis Between 2000 and 2012, ten African countries adopted candidate gender quota laws to improve women's descriptive representation in national legislatures. The effect of these laws on the election of women has varied widely. This article examines the effect of a gender quota law on the election of women as well as the appointment of women to the cabinet in the Republic of Niger to better understand the realities of applying legal gender quotas in Africa. It finds that the effect of the gender quota law on the election and appointment of women hinged on a combination of three factors: the design of the law, the institutional context, and the agency of women's activists who monitored the quota's implementation. In a democratizing context, women's activists used the Constitutional Court and the media to ensure respect for the quota law.

'Someday Girls, Someday': Legislating for Gender Quotas in the Republic of Ireland

In July 2012, legislation on political party funding and candidate gender quotas was enacted by the Irish Parliament. The Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012 provides for a 30 per cent gender quota for party candidates at the next general election, rising to 40 per cent seven years thereafter. Non-compliant parties will lose half of their annual state funding. This paper is concerned with addressing the question: why did Irish political parties, who have always been so reluctant to tackle the question of women’s under-representation, suddenly do a volte-face and introduce such a radical measure to address the problem? In answering this question, we argue that the system shock stemming from the recent Irish economic crisis, as well as atypical political behaviour, were significant contributory factors to the adoption of legislative gender quotas in the Republic of Ireland. The moment of the economic crisis and the ensuing political reform discourse provided a carpe diem opportunity for the women’s movement, feminist parliamentarians and academic actors, to finally push gender quotas onto the legislative agenda. Rather than the economic crisis being a starting point for the debate on women’s participation in public life, it was in fact a tipping point, the moment when years of research and campaigning finally reached the political agenda. Legislating for gender quotas was also a way of quickly responding to societal demands for political reform, but knowing that the quota did not require immediate implementation (it would be enacted someday), it was in fact a way for politicians to rid themselves of a thorny issue in the short-term – a typical political act.

The Relationship Between Campaign Negativity, Gender and Campaign Context

Are female candidates disproportionately punished for relying on negative campaign ads? While scholars agree that sponsoring negativity works against traditional gender stereotypes, it is less clear how relying on negativity affects voter evaluations of female candidates. In this manuscript we reconsider the relationship between candidate gender and negativity. Relying on theories of conditional stereotype use, we argue that negative ads translate to significantly poorer evaluations for the female candidate when two conditions are met: (1) the female candidate is perceived as the instigator of negativity and (2) she is of a different party than the voter. We test our predictions using an experiment and show that female candidates only face a disproportionate punishment for relying on negativity under our two specific conditions. In contrast, voters are much more forgiving when they believe that a female candidate simply followed her opponent’s lead in using negative ads or when negativity is used to promote the voter’s party. While our research suggests that—compared to their male counterparts—female candidates do face some added constraints, our findings have broader implications. Not only are voters more or less likely to use gender stereotypes under certain conditions, but these conditions are highly dependent on the campaign context.

The pattern and process of colonizing the interior of Australia

Extant research shows that female managers face significant hurdles in the attainment of top level positions in IT organizations. Recently there have been some examples to women breaking through the glass ceiling to reach to higher positions. However, there is only a limited knowledge of the obstacles women may face after they break through the glass ceiling to ascend to leadership positions. New studies suggest that women may be more likely to be assigned to riskier, more precarious leadership positions compared to men-a form of bias called the glass cliff. Drawing from role congruity theory, the present study examines whether men and women are differentially selected to leadership positions. Employing a 2 (organization performance: increasing or declining) x 2 (candidate gender: male or female) between subjects design with a sample of 281 Business Administration students did not find support for the glass cliff hypothesis that female leaders are more likely to be assigned to top positions when organizational performance is declining rather than increasing. Hence, this study did not replicate the glass cliff. More research is needed to investigate under what conditions this bias may occur.

Hillary and Barack: Will Atypical Candidates Lead to Atypical Coverage?

This analysis compares how the press covered the campaigns of then-senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to determine if—when not compared to a White male candidate—the press still focused on a Black candidate's skin color, a female candidate's gender and appearance, and if it continued to portray both candidates unfavorably. As the first national election with an African American male and White female frontrunners, this is perhaps the first study that directly examines the effect the novelty of race and gender have on press coverage. It found the press still made gender a salient aspect of Clinton's campaign. Also, despite his reticence to focus on race, the press still more frequently portrayed Obama as the “Black” candidate. However, in contrast to previous studies, neither candidate received more coverage for their appearance (i.e., attractiveness, attire, or smile), nor did either receive more favorable coverage than the other. These findings suggest that to some extent, these atypical candidates may have led to atypical coverage.

Gender Quotas, Female Politicians and Public Expenditures: Quasi-Experimental Evidence

This paper uses a Regression Discontinuity Design combined with a Before/After estimation to explore the effect of legislated candidate gender quotas on the election of female politicians and on public finance decisions in Spanish municipalities. Gender quotas have increased the percentage of female candidates by 7-10 points and also, but to a lower extent, the percentage of female Councilors (4-6 points) in Spain. I show that the difference between the increase in female Councilors and the increase in female candidates is due to the strategic positioning of candidates within lists. There is no evidence of an effect of gender quotas on the probability of indirect election of female Mayors. The estimates of the effect of gender quotas on the size and composition of local government expenditures are not statistically different from zero, despite there being evidence from survey data of gender differences in preferences over policy. I interpret this lack of effect alternatively as being a Median Voter Theorem result or the consequence of the modest impact of gender quotas on the percentage of female Councilors and of the failure to promote women to executive positions and to constraint party leaders in their ability to influence party members' decisions over policy.

Opening the Door: Women Candidates and California's Primary Elections

This article examines how gender interacts with primary electoral institutions to affect electoral outcomes in California's Assembly primaries from 1992 to 2006. The hypothesized relationship between candidate success and election type utilizes theories of candidate gender stereotyping and voter behavior. Therefore, women are expected to become advantaged as the primary changes from closed to more open rules due to cross-over voting and independent voters. The results show that both Republican and Democratic women enjoy greater success under the more open rules. These findings have important implications for theories about gender and politics. Institutions, namely primary election structures, matter.

Ditching the pack: Digital media in the 2010 Brazilian congressional campaigns

Over the past decade Brazil has become well known for its open embrace of new media technologies. In tandem, an increasing number of Brazilian candidates have begun to use web and social media sites as an integral part of their overall campaign efforts. The present study is the first effort at large-scale modeling of these relationships in an emerging Latin American democracy. To explore the relationship between using digital media in a candidate’s political campaign strategy and voter support, I built an original dataset of the 2010 elections for the lower house of the Brazilian Congress. I investigate factors such as a candidate’s use of web and social networking sites in conjunction with other traditional influences such as candidate gender, age, incumbency, party affiliation, coalition membership and campaign spending. I demonstrate that having a robust web presence and using social media, holding other factors constant, can be a significant contribution to the popularity of a candidate on election day in an open-list proportional representation electoral system such as that in Brazil. Additionally, I demonstrate how this digital media campaign tactic might be specifically beneficial to traditionally disadvantaged candidates in bridging the gap of their under-representation in Brazilian politics.

When Gender and Party Collide: Stereotyping in Candidate Trait Attribution

Research has shown that voters are willing to stereotype candidates on the basis of their gender, which can sometimes pose obstacles and sometimes prove advantageous for female politicians. But the literature is uncertain about how candidate gender interacts with candidate party affiliation to shape voters' perceptions. In this article, I draw on political psychology, the women and politics literature, and recent work on partisan “trait ownership” to suggest that the application of gender stereotypes will be limited by the salience of partisan stereotypes. I use nationally representative survey data and a content analysis of news coverage from the 2006 U.S. Senate elections to test the argument. Focusing on voter evaluations of candidate traits, I find that party stereotypes are more powerful than gender stereotypes, and that assessments of candidate attributes can be affected by news coverage when candidates are portrayed in ways that challenge traditional partisan images. The results suggest that gender stereotyping is limited by the relevance of party stereotypes, and that as the Republican and Democratic parties continue to polarize at the elite level, the importance of partisan stereotyping is likely to increase.

Race and Gender in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election: A Content Analysis of Editorial Cartoons

Previous research has suggested that news and commentary concerning political candidates can vary based on a candidate's gender or race. Race and gender were especially salient in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. A content analysis of editorial cartoons was conducted to examine patterns in content or imagery related to race and gender. Editorial cartoons that featured Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and/or John McCain and were published during the primary season were analyzed. Cartoons featuring Obama were more likely to be favorable than those featuring the other candidates; those featuring Clinton were more likely to be unfavorable. Clinton was more often presented as ugly and small in size than was Obama. Clinton was shown perpetrating violence more often than the male candidates; she was also portrayed as the recipient of particularly gruesome violence. Some cartoons featured imagery or content that relied on racial or gender stereotypes; a qualitative analysis of these cartoons is provided. Overall, findings support previous research showing the continued relevance of race and gender in media coverage of political campaigns.

Voting For Mom: The Political Consequences of Being a Parent for Male and Female Candidates

In this article, I explore the political consequences of being a parent for men and women seeking political office. Although a long-standing body of research has concluded that family obligations constrain the political careers of women but not of men, almost no research examines how family status can affect voter evaluations of political candidates. Using an experiment in which I varied the candidate's gender and parental status, I find that on a number of indicators, voters rate childless female candidates substantially lower than childless male candidates, mother candidates, and father candidates. Childless women also lose the traditional “female advantage” on child-care and children's issues. Additionally, while mothers of young children are not significantly disadvantaged compared to mothers of older children and women with no children, they are disadvantaged in comparison to male candidates with young children. Furthermore, this study finds evidence that male candidates may receive a “fatherhood penalty” compared to men with no children. Thus, there are political consequences of being a parent, but the consequences are dependent on the candidate's gender. These findings have important implications for candidate campaign strategy and how female candidates should think about presenting their family lives to voters.