O sister, where art thou? Theory and evidence on female participation at citizen assemblies

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlène Gerber ◽  
Hans-Peter Schaub ◽  
Sean Mueller
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Female Participation ◽  
Original Survey

This article investigates gender differences in participation at the citizen assembly of Glarus, Switzerland. We use original survey data collected among 800 citizens. We find significant gender gaps both for attending and holding a speech at the assembly. Lower female attendance is particularly pronounced among older cohorts and can largely be explained by gender differences in political interest, knowledge and efficacy. In contrast, the gender gap in speaking is substantial regardless of age and cannot be reduced to factors that typically shape participation. Hence, gender differences are disappearing in voting but persist in more public, interactive forms of political engagement.

Gender Differences in Critical Digital Political Engagement in China: The Consequences for Protest Attitudes

2019 ◽  
pp. 089443931986590
Author(s):  
Kevin M. Wagner ◽  
Jason Gainous ◽  
Jason P. Abbott
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Social ◽  
Critical Media ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Digital Engagement

We use original survey data from China to examine gender differences in exposure to, and the exchange of, information critical of their respective governments via the Internet and social media. Existing research suggests that men, generally, tend to be more politically engaged than women. We set out to test whether this extended to dissident political engagement in the Chinese context, and if it translated into variation in support for protest across gender, and across political context. Compared to other Asian nations, China has relatively high gender equality. Yet, due to the social, cultural, and political structures in China, we expect that women will be less active online, less likely to consume critical media, and less likely to engage in political dissidence than their male counterparts. We did find that men were more likely to be critically digitally engaged in China. However, we found that while critical digital engagement was positively related to support for protest, this effect was actually stronger for women in China. We offer some speculation regarding these counterintuitive results.

Piquing Political Interest, Forging Political Engagement

2020 ◽  
pp. 95-108
Author(s):  
Magda Hinojosa ◽  
Miki Caul Kittilson
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Multivariate Analyses ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Knowledge ◽  
Consistent Pattern ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Descriptive Representation ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Over Time

How do sizable and visible gains in women’s officeholding affect women’s and men’s political engagement? This chapter examines how women’s political presence shapes gender differences in political knowledge, interest, discussion, and citizens’ beliefs about their own efficaciousness. The authors draw on their unique survey in Uruguay before quota implementation and after the resulting increase in women’s descriptive representation to track gender differences over time. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses reveal a consistent pattern of rising engagement for women as a consequence of the changing face of descriptive representation. After the election, previously statistically significant gender gaps in favor of men evaporate for political interest, political knowledge, perceptions of understanding issues, and political discussion.

scholarly journals The Gender Gap in Youth Political Participation: Evidence from Germany

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Pfanzelt ◽  
Dennis C. Spies
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Multivariate Regression ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Political Skills ◽  
Lower Confidence

In this article, we consider the gender gap in political participation by analyzing recent survey data about German adolescents. Differentiating between institutional, non-institutional, and expressive participation, we show that, even in Germany where there is strong gender equality, type-specific gender differences persist. Testing for resource, socialization, and attitudinal explanations, in multivariate regression analyses, we identify socialization in civic forms of participation together with the lower confidence of women in their personal and political skills as major drivers for the sexual differences in political engagement, especially so for institutionalized forms of participation.

Gender Gaps in Electoral Turnout: Surveys versus Administrative Censuses

2021 ◽  
pp. 147892992110195
Author(s):  
Paulo Cox ◽  
Mauricio Morales Quiroga
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Electoral Participation ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Electoral Turnout ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Official Data ◽  
Rule Out

Gender gaps in voter turnout are usually studied using opinion surveys rather than official census data. This is because administrative censuses usually do not disaggregate turnout according to voters’ sex. Without this official information, much of the research on gender gaps in electoral turnout relies on survey respondents’ self-reported behavior, either before or after an election. The decision to use survey data implies facing several potential drawbacks. Among them are the turnout overstatement bias and the attrition or nonresponse bias, both affecting the estimation of factors explaining turnout and any related statistical analysis. Furthermore, these biases may be correlated with covariates such as gender: men, more than women, may systematically overstate their electoral participation. We analyze turnout gender gaps in Chile, comparing national surveys with official administrative data, which in Chile are publicly available. Crucially, the latter includes the official record of sex, age, and the electoral behavior—whether the individual voted or not—for about 14 million registered individuals. Based on a series of statistical models, we find that analysis based on survey data is likely to rule out gender gaps in electoral participation. Carrying out the same exercises, but with official data, leads to the opposite conclusion, namely, that there is a sizable gender gap favoring women.

100 Years of Suffrage and Girls Still Struggle to Find their “Fit” in Politics

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 474-478
Author(s):  
Angela L. Bos ◽  
Mirya R. Holman ◽  
Jill S. Greenlee ◽  
Zoe M. Oxley ◽  
J. Celeste Lay
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Adult Women ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Children's Perceptions ◽  
Women’S Representation ◽  
Political Office ◽  
Right To Vote

When women gained the national right to vote 100 years ago, remarkable possibilities for their voice and presence in politics opened. However, despite gains in women’s representation, numerous gaps continue to exist in which adult women engage less in politics than men. In identifying and explaining adult gender gaps, little attention has been given to whether gaps emerge among children. This is a pressing issue because children’s perceptions are likely to influence their participation as adults. This article explores whether and how girls and boys differently view politics and their role in it. We report survey data from more than 1,600 children ages 6 to 12 to explore basic gender gaps in political interest and ambition. We argue that these results may reveal the roots of a larger problem: 100 years after women gained suffrage, girls still express less interest and enthusiasm than boys for political life and political office.

Awards and the Gender Gap in Knowledge Contributions in STEM

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 ◽  
pp. 241-244
Author(s):  
Jana Gallus ◽  
Emma Heikensten
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Social Recognition ◽  
Stem Fields ◽  
Female Participation ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Speak Up

Organizations miss out if their smartest members do not bring their ideas to the table. Gallus and Heikensten (2019) establish that gender differences play an important role for female participation in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math). Moreover, they show that these differences can be eliminated by providing suitable forms of social recognition via awards. This article focuses on self-stereotyping and explores its role as a mechanism behind the effect of recognition on the gender gap in the tendency to speak up.

Women and Politics Across Latin America

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Magda Hinojosa ◽  
Miki Caul Kittilson
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Democratic Citizenship ◽  
Democratic Process ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Support For Democracy ◽  
Paid Labor ◽  
Democratic Engagement ◽  
The Individual

Chapter 1 presents the puzzle of gender differences in political engagement and support for democracy. Traditional explanations come up short in fully explaining these gender gaps: gender differences in democratic engagement endure for some countries despite women’s increased participation in higher education and in the paid labor force. Much research has focused on gender gaps in voting, giving short shrift to the more puzzling differences in political interest (and related measures of political engagement) and support for democracy. Yet, the latter set of behaviors and motivations are essential to a strong democracy: at the individual level they are essential components of full democratic citizenship, and in the aggregate contribute to equality in the democratic process and to enlightened, inclusive debate. We explain why the Uruguayan case proves an unrivaled laboratory for investigating the effects of women’s gains in politics for changes in mass-level connections to the democratic process.

Gender and Local Political Interest: Some International Comparisons

1993 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 672-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernadette C. Hayes ◽  
Clive S. Bean
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
International Comparisons ◽  
Science Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Political Interest

Since the 1970s, political science research suggests no significant gender differences in overall levels of participation. For example, an examination of current rates of conventional political participation and voter turnout indicates little difference between men and women in either the United States, Great Britain, West Germany, Italy or other western industrial nations.1 Despite this disappearance of gender differences in political participation, however, both national and international research suggests an enduring gender gap in political interest. Regardless of country of origin, women remain less politically interested than men.2

The gender gap in voter turnout: An artefact of men’s over-reporting in survey research?

2021 ◽  
pp. 136914812110568
Author(s):  
Daniel Stockemer ◽  
Aksel Sundstrom
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Survey Research ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Moderate Evidence ◽  
Official Records ◽  
Cross National

Is there a gender gap in voting? Most cross-national survey research on gender inequalities in voter turnout finds that men have a higher probability to vote than women. Yet, some studies using validated turnout data shed some doubt on this finding. We revisit the question of a gender gap in voting using official records. In more detail, we compare the gender gap in turnout between survey data and official electoral figures across 73 elections. Our results highlight that in surveys, men still report higher turnout in most countries. However, official electoral figures reveal contrasting trends: across countries, women are, on average, more likely to vote. We also test two explanations for this difference in turnout between official figures and surveys: (1) men over-report voting more than women and (2) the survey samples of men and women are different. We find some, albeit very moderate, evidence for the first explanation. We find some, albeit very moderate, evidence for the first explanation and no support for the second explanation. All in all, our research nevertheless suggests that scholars should be careful in using surveys to detect gender differences in voting.

scholarly journals American Party Women

2016 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffany D. Barnes ◽  
Erin C. Cassese
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Policy Attitudes ◽  
Joint Influence ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender

Research on the gender gap in American politics has focused on average differences between male and female voters. This has led to an underdeveloped understanding of sources of heterogeneity among women and, in particular, a poor understanding of the political preferences of Republican women. We argue that although theories of ideological sorting suggest gender gaps should exist primarily between political parties, gender socialization theories contend that critical differences lie at the intersection of gender and party such that gender differences likely persist within political parties. Using survey data from the 2012 American National Election Study, we evaluate how party and gender intersect to shape policy attitudes. We find that gender differences in policy attitudes are more pronounced in the Republican Party than in the Democratic Party, with Republican women reporting significantly more moderate views than their male counterparts. Mediation analysis reveals that the gender gaps within the Republican Party are largely attributable to gender differences in beliefs about the appropriate scope of government and attitudes toward gender-based inequality. These results afford new insight into the joint influence of gender and partisanship on policy preferences and raise important questions about the quality of representation Republican women receive from their own party.

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