Gender Quota Policies and Citizens’ Evaluations of Female Politicians

• In Event: Legislatures and Legislators in Authoritarian Regimes

Abstract

Do citizens evaluate quota and non-quota legislators similarly? Do voters perceive female politicians elected through non-quota seats as more competent? Despite the proliferation of studies exploring gender quotas globally and their effect on advancing women’s numerical and substantive representation, it remains unclear how citizens assess the competence of female legislators based on their mode of election. This is particularly important in countries that have some seats reserved for women in addition to seats contested by both men and women. To better understand the effect of gender quotas on shaping citizens’ competence evaluations of female politicians, we conducted a vignette experiment in Morocco (n=900) where we randomized information on whether women were elected through a gender quota. We expect voters to evaluate quota women less favorably than male and female politicians elected in non-quota seats. However, we expect that information portraying quota-elected women as able to work across party lines will improve voters’ perceptions of competency.

Authors

• Alexandra Domike Blackman, Cornell University

• Marwa Shalaby, University of Wisconsin-Madison