Gender and Dynastic Political Selection

Abstract

<jats:p> Throughout history and across countries, women appear more likely than men to enter politics on the heels of a close family relative or spouse. To explain this dynastic bias in women’s representation, we introduce a theory that integrates political selection decisions with informational inequalities across social groups. Candidates with dynastic ties benefit from the established reputations of their predecessors, but these signals of quality are more important to political newcomers such as women. Legislator-level data from twelve democracies and candidate-level data from Ireland and Sweden support the idea that dynastic ties are differentially more helpful to women, and that the quality of predecessors may be more relevant for the entry and evaluation of female successors than their male counterparts. The role of informational inequalities is also reflected in the declining dynastic bias over time (as more women enter politics), and in the differential effect of a gender quota across Swedish municipalities. </jats:p>

Intergenerational Transmission of Party Affiliation Within Political Families

“…What we do find, however, is that having the same gender as the nominated politician parent further increases the share of individuals running for the same political party as their parents. These results connect up with Folke et al (2020), who use a cross-country data set on legislators as well as data on individual candidates from Ireland and Sweden. The authors find that women are more likely to enter politics if they have a relative who has been a politician.…”

Women Who Persist: Pathways to Power in Eastern Indonesia

“…In the Philippines, a study by Labonne et al (2015) shows that a majority of women mayors elected since 1988 had dynastic connections with established politicians. A study by Folke et al (2021) of thirteen democratic nations also shows a dynastic bias in gender representation, with family relationships with a prior male politician being much more important for recruitment of women politicians than for men. Research by Jalalzai and Rincker (2018) in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and North America confirms the relevance of family ties for the recruitment of chief executives (presidents and prime ministers) in both democratic and non-democratic countries.…”

“…In the early stages of women’s move into the electoral arena, female representation often rises as a result of women with dynastic connections (i.e. elite women) being elected, as research by Folke et al (2021) shows. However, over time, other factors, including the persistence and growing knowledge of non-dynastic women candidates, can come into play.…”

Women’s Political Representation in Indonesia: Who Wins and How?

“…Several Asian countries have been led by women heads of government or state who were wives or children of (often deceased) prominent male politicians (Choi, 2019; Derichs et al, 2006; Richter, 1990), while Choi (2019) argues that dynastic connections are one important pathway to power for women at all levels in numerous Southeast Asian countries. More generally, Folke et al (2021) have drawn on European examples to argue that women with dynastic connections tend to make up a large share of elected women representatives at early stages of expanded women’s political engagement because party selectors, lacking knowledge of potential women candidates as individuals, tend to fall back on what they know about candidates’ male relatives. Dynastic connections become less important over time, as party leaders become more familiar with women candidates.…”