Gender Differences in Voting for Female Candidates: Evidence From the 1982 Election

Identity Politics, Partisanship, and Voting for Women Candidates

“…Gender identity plays a significant role only among Independents and others without ties to the major parties. Therefore, this hypothesis predicts gender effects to be present only among voters who did not identify with either major party (Zipp and Plutzer 1985).…”

“…We explored hypotheses 1-4 directly in our analysis of the five women who sought statewide office in 1982 (Zipp and Plutzer 1985). We think our logic in examining statewide races remains reasonable: such races are visible, and even candidates challenging powerful incumbents become well known (which is not true in many House races).…”

Glass Ceiling or Glass Elevator: Are Voters Biased in Favor of Women Candidates in California Elections?

“…Female voters may vote for the woman candidate regardless of which candidate might better represent their views because, much like racial minorities, their shared history of discrimination influences women to think in terms of group unity rather than individual-level interests (Bobo 1983;Bobo and Hutchings 1996;Dawson 1994;Fox and Smith 2001;Paolino1995;Zipp and Plutzer 1985). Thus, women might rely more on information that identifies which candidate better represents their group interest not their individual interest.…”

Sexism Versus Partisanship: A New Look at the Question of Whether America is Ready for a Woman President

“…Deloitte and Touche's poll (2000) showed little or no difference in the proportion of respondents who said that they were "much less likely to vote for a female candidate as US president" than those who said that about a US senator or governor (7, 5, and 5%, respectively). When it comes to running for political offices other than the presidency, studies indicate that women are no less likely than men to be elected when incumbency is taken into account (Burrell, 1990;Darcy & Schramm, 1977;Deber, 1982;Ekstrand & Eckert, 1981;Gaddie & Bullock, 1995;Leeper, 1991;Seltzer, Newman, & Leighton, 1997;Welch, Ambrosius, Clark, & Darcy, 1985;Zipp & Plutzer, 1985).…”

“…However, as Zipp and Plutzer (1985) noted, Geraldine Ferraro, who received the Vice Presidential nomination from the Democratic Party, was believed to have given the Democrats a net gain of .80. It is also the case that the percentage who say that they will not vote for a woman today is substantially less than those who said that they would not vote for a Catholic in 1960 (Darcy, Welch, & Clark, 1994).…”