The Strategic Use of Women Candidates in Post-Scandal Environments

Chapter 4 examines the inclusion calculations of party elites in the aftermath of a massive corruption scandal. It argues that party elites have an incentive to strategically increase the presence of women candidates in such an environment in order to associate themselves and their party with stereotypical feminine traits, but this incentive is not always enough to trigger inclusion. Case study analyses of Spain, Portugal, and Ireland are presented, with evidence that political parties in Spain and Portugal recruit and run more women candidates in high-profile positions after a massive scandal breaks but, due to the high “costs” of running women in the institutional environment of Ireland, this effect is not found there. Finally, the chapter presents a large-N regression analysis of legislative electoral results over a period of 20 years, with evidence that more women win legislative seats in the aftermath of a corruption scandal.

The Method of Inclusion Matters Too

Chapter 5 looks beyond candidate selection to consider the adoption of gender quotas in the aftermath of a massive corruption scandal. It argues that the prevalence of gender quotas today demonstrates that elites see an advantage to this particular method of inclusion and suggests several reasons why a quota offers the benefits of feminization while simultaneously limiting some of the costs of women’s inclusion. The chapter asserts that a gender quota potentially allows elites more control over women’s presence and power than any other method of inclusion and is thus often the elites’ optimal method. In addition, it presents case study analyses of the adoption of legislated gender quotas in two countries—Italy and Argentina—and argues that quota adoption was driven by both the benefit of strategically associating with women in the post-scandal environment as well as the particular advantages of this method of inclusion in these contexts.

Introduction

Chapter 1 provides a brief overview of the central theory of this book: women’s political representation depends in part on whether men in power see a benefit to associating their political party or government with women. It begins with a brief discussion of the existing literature on women’s representation to establish the foundations of what is already known about women’s path to political office. It then engages the literature on the rational incentives that drive political behavior and goes on to suggest that the self-interested motivations of gate-keepers should be considered in any analysis of women’s descriptive representation. Finally, it presents a synopsis of the following chapters of the book and briefly describes the theoretical contributions and empirical examinations presented to culminate in a new perspective on women’s descriptive representation.

The Strategic Use of Women’s Representation in Hybrid Regimes

Chapter 6 examines the context of hybrid regimes and argues that the incentive to mimic democracies in this regime type triggers governments to increase the legislative representation of women, particularly when the state is removing civil rights. That is, because of the stereotype that women are naturally more honest, cooperative, and democratic, women’s descriptive representation is strategically manipulated to signal a commitment to these ideals. This theory is tested through a cross-sectional, time-series model of election results of 27 countries over 16 years, which offers evidence that increases in women’s legislative presence in hybrid regimes correlates with a loss of civil rights. Two case studies are also presented, from Ethiopia and Bangladesh, two hybrid regimes that experienced a dramatic reduction in civil rights while simultaneously adopting gender quotas and increasing the presence of women in politics.

Feminine Stereotypes and the Advantages of Association

Chapter 3 focuses on one variable in the inclusion calculation: the incongruity benefit. It begins with an analysis of feminine stereotypes and illustrates the common assumptions that women in politics are more honest and committed to democracy than men. It then presents the results of an original survey of citizens in the United States and Canada, which suggests that most citizens continue to value men over women as leaders, yet see women as potentially bringing valuable traits to leadership. The chapter then expands on my central argument underlying the mechanism of the incongruity benefit, explaining that, because of women’s assumed personality traits, having them associated with the party or government can be valuable to men. Thus, male elites can strategically increase the presence of women legislators to give citizens the impression of a new embrace of honesty or even democracy, even though those elites may have no sincere interest in increasing women’s power.

The Calculation of Women’s Inclusion

Chapter 2 offers a new approach to understanding the conditions under which women are included in the political sphere. It presents a conceptual framework of the competing individual and partisan motivations that male rational opportunists face when making candidate selection decisions, referred to as the “inclusion calculation.” This is a calculation of the likely costs and benefits of women’s increased presence in the party under various institutional, political, and social conditions. In addition, it argues that under conditions of declining party or government legitimacy, citizens are not only updating their beliefs on women’s roles but are also temporarily changing their understanding of the ideal leader. This brings new value to the stereotypes traditionally associated with women which, as is explained, temporarily increases the value of women’s inclusion in the eyes of the elite.

Conclusion, Implications, and Future Research

Chapter 7 presents the implications of the book’s findings as well as suggestions for future research. Because the findings suggest that women’s political presence can be a strategic tool used by male gatekeepers to maintain power, one of the key implications of this project is that scholars of women’s descriptive representation should engage more with the strategies of male elites in their analyses. In addition, the chapter suggests that scholars use more caution when their findings demonstrate a correlation between women’s low confidence and their representation in government; it may not be as simple as instructing women to “lean in.” Finally, the chapter offers several paths for future research, including proposing the engagement of intersectionality, the variation in women’s assumed traits, and a theoretical broadening to engage those countries in which strategic feminization is never an advantageous approach (e.g., Russia and the Central African Republic).