Why Do (Male) Party Elites Nominate Women?

• In Event: Women’s Political, Economic, and Social Lives in Muslim-Majority Countries

Abstract

Much of the literature on gender and intersectionality focuses on the link between candidate traits and their electoral prospects. Yet the role of intersectional traits in party nomination has received limited study. Drawing on an original dataset from Turkey’s parliamentary elections (2015-2023) and qualitative interviews with party elites, we find that leaders strategically place women with politically salient intersecting identities in visible list positions and are more likely to do so in districts in which the intersecting identities are central to symbolic contestations between opposing partisan groups. We argue that leveraging women’s religious or ethnic identities creates informational shortcuts, fostering warmth among individuals from that in-group, who are more likely to see the female candidate as “one of their own.” By showing that party elites strategically leverage female candidates’ identities to improve the party’s electoral prospects, our research contributes to our understanding of gender and politics in patriarchal contexts.

Authors

• Elif Sari Genc, Portland State University

• Lindsay J. Benstead, Portland State University