Playing the Women’s Card

How Women Respond to Female Candidates’ Descriptive Versus Substantive Representation

Bibliographic Data

ID6180231
AuthorsDanielle Joesten Martins (0000-0003-2159-8083, California State University, Sacramento, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume47
Issue3
Pages549-581
Publication date2019-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Politics Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1532-673X • E-ISSN: 1552-3373
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1532673x18776622
OpenAlexW2805421428
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited36

When presented the choice between a male and female candidate, it is commonly assumed that women prefer a female candidate. But as more policy and ideologically diverse women run for office, this assumption may not hold true. Using an experimental design embedded in a nationally representative survey, I test how voters respond to female candidates with ideologies and abortion positions similar and contrary to their own preferences. I find that women, generally, prefer a female candidate, but support for a female candidate among women decreases significantly when she has a contrary ideology or policy position. Whether women prefer descriptive or substantive representation also is conditioned on individual-level characteristics. This study advances our understanding of voters’ responses to female candidates’ varying ideological and issue positions, which is increasingly important as more women run for office. Although women are more likely than men to give female candidates the benefit of the doubt, not just any female candidate will do—she needs to appeal to women on issue and ideological grounds too

Appeal · Descriptive statistics · Economics · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Fiscal Policies and Political Economy · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology

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