Youth Advantage Versus Gender Penalty

Selecting and Electing Young Candidates

Bibliographic Data

ID6340417
AuthorsJana Belschner (0000-0002-4534-7951, University of Bergen, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume76
Issue1
Pages90-106
Publication date2023-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Research Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1065-9129 • E-ISSN: 1938-274X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/10659129211072559
OpenAlexW4214733127
LanguageEN
Citations received22
References cited57

Young people are under-represented in formal politics. While this may be a mere projection of their lack among voters and party members, the article investigates whether being young is a disadvantage in election processes, and if age effects differ by gender. Bridging the literature on gender & politics and political behavior, the article draws on an innovative sequential mixed-method design. Studying the 2019 Irish local elections, it uses 33 interviews to build hypotheses, which are subsequently tested on an original candidate-level dataset ( n = 1884). The findings suggest that, when controlling for party affiliation and political status, being young can provide a net electoral advantage to male candidates. In contrast, young female candidates appear to be advantaged by their age but penalized by their gender. The article thus contributes to our understanding about the conditions right at the start of political careers and the emergence of intersectional representational inequalities

Bridging (networking · Contrast (vision · Demographic economics · Disadvantage · Economics · Gender gap · Inequality · Irish · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Law · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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Open DOIOpen Access