Editorial introduction: Gender and political financing

Abstract

Contesting elections is extremely expensive. The need for money excludes many prospective candidates, resulting in the over-representation of wealth within politics. The cost of contesting elections has been underestimated as a cause of women’s under-representation. Covering seven case studies in six papers, this special issue makes theoretical and empirical contributions to understanding how political financing is gendered. We look at the impact on candidates, arguing that the personal costs of running for office can be prohibitive, and that fundraising is harder for female challengers. We also explore the role of political parties, looking at when and how parties might introduce mitigating measures to support female candidates with the costs of running. We demonstrate how political institutions shape the cost of running for office, illustrate how this is gendered and consider the potential consequences of institutional reform. We also note how societal gender norms can have financial repercussions for women candidates.

Daring Patriarchy? A Biblical Engagement with Gender Discourses on Political Participation in Post-colonial Zimbabwe

“…Scholarship on gender and politics has established that there is a close relationship among gender, political financing and political participation (Democratic Audit, 2014;International IDEA, 2015;Murray, Muriaas & Wang, 2021). International IDEA (2015:10) notes that the impact of political finance on equitable gender participation and representation in politics has been discussed broadly as one of the contributing factors to the unequal participation of men and women in electoral processes.…”

‘Above all, it will boil down to money problems’: The impact of gender-targeted public financing on political parties and women candidates in South Korea

“…While public funding has been institutionalized in many states to reduce the cost of elections and to prevent corruption (Norris and Van Es, 2016), GTPF differs in that it specifically links the use and distribution of state funding to gender equality measures (Murray et al, 2021). Funds are directly given to candidates or channeled through parties.…”

“…In a multi-party electoral system where political parties play an indispensable role in nominating, running and winning public office for women, the political party is the key actor capable of bringing about any desired policy outcomes of GTPF by changing parties’ perception of women’s viability and electability and thus fielding more women. At the same time, GTPF helps women to overcome the ‘funding paradox’ whereby women need more money than men to compensate for their inferior status as challengers, but find it harder to obtain money (Murray et al, 2021).…”

“…Political funds are indispensable when running for office, yet economic inequality prevents a range of talented people from entering politics (Nelson, 2000; Noveck, 2010). While women candidates raise the same amounts of money as their male counterparts (Barber et al, 2016; Burrell, 2014; Kitchens and Swers, 2016), the high cost of elections and a lack of money are considerable barriers for politically eligible women and young people who want to pursue a career in politics (Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2021; Murray et al, 2021; Murray, 2021; Werner and Mayer, 2007). When they manage to stand for election, women tend to rely on smaller, and often individual, donations compared to male candidates (Feo et al, 2021; Tolley et al, 2020).…”

Payments and Penalties for Democracy: Gendered Electoral Financing in Action Worldwide

“…On the one hand, studies on political financing and democratic quality have raised unequal access to financial support as a core concern, if not a major impediment, for vigorous electoral competition with little mention of gender-based inequality (e.g., Beetham 2000;Diamond and Morlino 2004;Pinto-Duschinsky 2002;Van Biezen and Kopecký 2007). On the other, comparative studies on gender and representation have only partially factored in gendered patterns of wealth inequality, with some notable exceptions (Bauer 2010;Bernauer, Giger, and Rosset 2015;Bernhard, Shames, and Telee 2021;Hinojosa 2012;Kanthak and Woon 2015;Matland 1998;Muriaas, Wang, and Murray 2020;Murray, Muriaas, and Wang Forthcoming;Sanbonmatsu and Rogers 2020). 1 The goal of this article is to better integrate these two disconnected bodies of work to advance understanding and theory about the importance of money and economic inequality in the struggle for gender-balanced democracy through the systematic analysis of a relatively new policy tool: "gendered electoral financing," or GEF (Muriaas, Wang, and Murray 2020).…”