Gendered patterns in candidates’ campaign fundraising: The case of Italy

Abstract

The lack of financial resources is an often-cited hurdle for women pursuing political careers. However, empirical analysis of the dynamics of the private funding of women candidates and its potential implications for their political careers is still scant, particularly for countries outside the anglophone regions. This paper contributes to the scholarly debate by focusing on the gendered patterns in campaign fundraising in Italy, where radical changes to the party funding regime and multiple reforms to the electoral laws may have changed the structure of opportunity for fundraising by women candidates. We analyse patterns of private funding for men and women candidates in four national elections between 1996 and 2018. Our analysis, triangulated with semi-structured interviews with women candidates, shows that differences exist in fundraising patterns between male and female candidates in Italy. It reveals differences in the quality of candidates’ fundraising networks and confirms that political affiliation (to right-wing parties) and incumbency have an effect on the amount of donations received, thus granting women candidates greater access to private donations.

It’s a rich man’s world: How class and glass ceilings intersect for UK parliamentary candidates

“…Thereafter, the party funds official campaign expenses, which are regulated and include campaign materials, staff costs and advertising, but not the candidate’s personal expenses. Political parties do not receive state funding for election campaigns; this institutional variable means that parties are more likely to expect candidates to bring in resources than they are to offer candidates financial support (Feo et al, forthcoming). Candidates are expected to contribute to fundraising and are not compensated for their time.…”

“…These include the significant costs of running for office. Carnes (2018) finds that class is not a barrier to fundraising; however, women may face additional challenges in raising funds for their campaigns (Applegate and Ohman, forthcoming; Barber et al, 2016; Feo et al, forthcoming). Alongside the costs met by fundraising are the personal costs borne by candidates themselves.…”

Editorial introduction: Gender and political financing

“…We examine seven case studies across six articles, covering a variety of democracies from different parts of the world. While all six articles explore related themes and are mutually complementary, three (Murray, forthcoming; Atmor and Kenig, forthcoming; Feo et al, forthcoming) make a particular contribution to our understanding of individual candidates, while three (Buckley and Mariani, forthcoming; Muriaas et al, forthcoming b; Shin and Kwon, forthcoming) enhance our knowledge of the roles of political parties in mitigating financial gender gaps.…”

Funding demands and gender in political recruitment: What parties do in Cabo Verde and Ghana

“…In France, candidates who receive at least 5% of the vote are refunded for 50% of the allowed spending. Still, in many countries there is no public funding, sometimes because of fears of corruption (Feo et al, Forthcoming; IDEA, 2012).…”

“…The funding demand poses greater challenges for women than for men given that, on the whole, women are likely to have fewer resources and less access to resources than men (Lawless and Pearson, 2008: 68). Moreover, even if women are equally able as men to raise funds when they are competing in elections (Feo et al, Forthcoming), the need to spend money in order to win a party nomination may already have limited the opportunities for most women to become candidates. Given the pressing individual funding challenge in high-cost contexts, it is likely that parties are aware of the negative effects high expenditures have on the supply of female candidates, but may, due to the institutional environment, be unable to do much to address them.…”