Gender-Related Political Knowledge and the Descriptive Representation of Women

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kira Sanbonmatsu
Keyword(s):  
Political Knowledge ◽  
Descriptive Representation ◽  
Representation Of Women

The gender gap in political knowledge revisited: Australia’s Julia Gillard as a natural experiment

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-220
Author(s):  
Ian McAllister
Keyword(s):  
Gender Gap ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Political Knowledge ◽  
Descriptive Representation ◽  
Representation Of Women

Surveys have found a persistent gender gap in political knowledge, with women knowing less about politics than men. This article tests the explanations for the gap using surveys collected in Australia between 2001 and 2016. The results show that the gender gap in knowledge was stable between 2001 and 2007, but declined significantly in 2010, and returning to trend in 2013 and 2016. The decline in 2010 is largely accounted for by the election of Australia’s first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, which resulted in women displaying greater media attentiveness. The results confirm other research suggesting that enhanced descriptive representation of women may help to close the gender gap in political knowledge.

Who Does What Work in a Ministerial Office: Politically Appointed Staff and the Descriptive Representation of Women in Australian Political Offices, 1979–2010

2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 463-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marija Taflaga ◽  
Matthew Kerby
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Career Paths ◽  
Descriptive Representation ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Systematic Data ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Policy Work ◽  
First Time

Women are underrepresented within political institutions, which can (negatively) impact policy outcomes. We examine women’s descriptive representation as politically appointed staff within ministerial offices. Politically appointed staff are now institutionalised into the policy process, so who they are is important. To date, collecting systematic data on political staff has proved impossible. However, for the first time we demonstrate how to build a systematic data set of this previously unobservable population. We use Australian Ministerial Directories (telephone records) from 1979 to 2010 (a method that can notionally be replicated in advanced democratic jurisdictions), to examine political advising careers in a similar manner as elected political elites. We find that work in political offices is divided on gender lines: men undertake more policy work, begin and end their careers in higher status roles and experience greater career progression than women. We find evidence that this negatively impacts women’s representation and their later career paths into parliament.

Gender Politics and Conservatism: The View from the British Conservative Party Grassroots

2012 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Webb ◽  
Sarah Childs
Keyword(s):  
Gender Issue ◽  
Gender Politics ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
Descriptive Representation ◽  
Substantive Representation ◽  
Selection Procedures ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
Party Members ◽  
Significant Support

AbstractCan conservatives be feminists? This article examines the issue by exploring the case of the British Conservative Party, drawing on a new survey of party members. Under David Cameron's leadership, reforms have been made to the party's parliamentary selection procedures and distinct women's policies developed, thus addressing both the descriptive and substantive representation of women. We examine party members' attitudes towards three types of gender issue: basic orientations towards gender roles and relations; specific policy measures relevant to the substantive representation of women; and the descriptive representation of women. Detailed empirical analysis reveals that there is significant support for progressive liberal feminist positions on each of these dimensions in the party, and that sex, age and basic ideological dispositions drive such attitudes to varying degrees. Even so, support for a liberal feminist position on the descriptive representation of women – that is, the aspect of gender politics where the leadership has been most active – remains on the whole quite limited.

Women's Substantive Representation in Decline: The Case of Democratic Failure in Hungary

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (02) ◽  
pp. 240-261
Author(s):  
Gabriella Ilonszki ◽  
Adrienn Vajda
Keyword(s):  
Extended Period ◽  
Descriptive Representation ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Substantive Representation ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Democratic Failure

AbstractThe substantive representation of women has attracted limited attention in cases in which women are present in politics in small numbers over an extended period of time. This article aims to fill this gap by focusing on two policy episodes in a postcommunist state where female descriptive representation has remained low and static and the regime's democratic backlash can also be observed. The two analytical questions refer to the agency and regime aspects of women's substantive representation under unfavorable conditions. Who is representing women under these conditions, and where and how is their representation taking place? How do the regime's characteristics explain the evolving representation patterns? The article will first argue that the same descriptive representation levels can imply different substantive representation patterns in terms of both actors and space. Second, by reconnecting descriptive representation and substantive representation, the article demonstrates that the decline of a regime's democratic credentials is detrimental to female substantive representation.

Mixed-member electoral systems, best loser rules, and the descriptive representation of women

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 153-162
Author(s):  
Yann P. Kerevel ◽  
Austin S. Matthews ◽  
Katsunori Seki
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Descriptive Representation ◽  
Representation Of Women

Identity in Campaign Finance and Elections: The Impact of Gender and Race on Money Raised in 2010–2018 U.S. House Elections

2021 ◽  
pp. 106591292110228
Author(s):  
Ashley Sorensen ◽  
Philip Chen
Keyword(s):  
Campaign Finance ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Descriptive Representation ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Gender And Race ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Unequal Access ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact

Disproportionate rates of congressional representation based on gender and race are especially stark considering the symbolic and substantive meaning derived from descriptive representation (Mansbridge 1999). Using an original data set consisting of candidate demographics, district characteristics, and campaign finance reports, we analyze an understudied barrier to representation: unequal access to campaign receipts. We argue that it is the simultaneous gendering and racialization of the campaign finance system that produces gaps in campaign fundraising and representation (Crenshaw 1989). Our results underscore the limitations of unitary approaches which conclude that women no longer face a disadvantage in campaign fundraising. Unequal access to campaign receipts serve as a barrier to the descriptive representation of women of color. By analyzing the interaction of both race and gender on campaign receipt totals in U.S. House elections from 2010 to 2018, we assert the path to representation is not equal for all.

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