The Impact of Descriptive Representation on Women’s Political Engagement: Does Party Matter?

Abstract

Recent research raises doubts about whether the presence of women contesting or occupying prominent public office enhances women’s political engagement. Taking into account both gender and party congruence between politicians and constituents, the authors find that it is primarily female candidates of the same party who enhance women’s interest in politics. The stronger impact of party-congruent (over party-incongruent) female candidates can be attributed to either greater visibility or agreement on substantive issues. Party matters, but rather than obscuring the role of gender in electoral politics, it enhances our understanding of how, or under what conditions, it works.

The Roots of the Gender Gap in Political Knowledge in Adolescence

“…If women do not see other women engaged in political pursuits or elected to office, they may feel excluded-that politics is a realm not suited or hospitable to women or that their interests will not be represented in government (Carroll 1994;Mansbridge 1999). Indeed, the gender gap in political interest and knowledge can shrink when more women seek congressional office (Atkeson 2003;Burns et al 2001;Koch 1997;Reingold and Harrell 2010;Sapiro andConover 1997, though see Dolan 2006;Lawless 2004 for evidence on the limits of these effects). Among adolescent females, residency in states with more women seeking office promotes one's intentions to be involved in politics in the future (Campbell and Wolbrecht 2006).…”

Candidate Gender and the Political Engagement of Women and Men

“…This suggests that any mobilizing effects of candidate gender are rooted more in the nature of the contest than in voter perceptions, as people tend to see campaigns similarly regardless of candidate gender. If the effects of gender come through the character of campaigns, then this can explain why we find conditional evidence for the effects of descriptive representation, dependent on the characteristics of the candidate (Atkeson, 2003;Reingold & Harrell, 2010) or the election (Hansen, 1997;Koch, 1997).…”

“…But empirical evidence for the empowering effects of descriptive representation has been quite mixed. In some cases, increasing the share of women running for office appears to activate women's engagement in politics (Atkeson, 2003;Hansen, 1997;Reingold & Harrell, 2010), while in other studies, greater female representation has limited effect on women's engagement (Dolan, 2006;Lawless, 2004).…”

A critical review of the problem of women's representation in political institutions

“…Начин на који жене одлучују да се кандидују представља круцијално објашњење родног диспаритета у политичким институцијама (Lawless, Fox, 2007). Међутим, истраживања која се баве овом темом углавном узимају у обзир ставове и понашања везана за партиципацију жена, а не њихово знање, способности и резултате постигнуте у процесу руковођења и одлучивања (Reingold, Harrell 2010;Wolbrecht, Campbell, 2007).…”