When Does Gender Matter?: Women Candidates and Gender Stereotypes in American Elections

265 Pages·2014·1.624 MB·English

by  Kathleen Dolan

When Does Gender Matter?

When Does Gender
Matter?
Women Candidates and Gender Stereotypes
in American Elections
Kathleen Dolan
1
1
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To Tom, Olivia, and Clayton,
For everything

CONTENTS
List of Figures and Tables ix
Acknowledgments xiii
1. Candidate Sex and Gender Stereotypes in American Elections 1
2. Studying Gender Stereotypes and Women Candidates 18
3. Attitudes, Stereotypes, and Support for Women Candidates 49
4. Do Stereotypes Shape Evaluations of Candidates? 91
5. The Role of Stereotypes in Vote Choice Decisions 123
6. Gender Stereotypes in Other Places? Candidate Quality
and Issue Campaigns 143
7. The Landscape for Women Candidates 186
Appendix A: Candidate Lists 199
Appendix B: Variable Construction 201
Appendix C: Campaign Ads and Websites 205
Appendix D: Survey Instrument 208
Appendix E: Additional Vote Choice Analysis 222
Notes 225
Bibliography 227
Index 239

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figures
2.1 Number of Women Candidates for the U.S. House
1970–2010 26
2.2 Number of Women Candidates for the U.S. Senate
1970–2010 26
2.3 Number of Women Candidates for Governor 1970–2010 27
3.1 Vote for a Woman President 51
3.2 Men Better Suited Emotionally for Politics 51
3.3 Governed Better or Worse if More Women in Office 52
Tables
3.1 Attitudes about Women in Politics 55
3.2 Traditional and Gendered Political Knowledge 60
3.3 Emotional Suitability 62
3.4 Abstract Policy Stereotypes, All Respondents 63
3.5 Abstract Trait Stereotypes, All Respondents 64
3.6 Abstract Policy Stereotypes by Respondent Sex 65
3.7 Abstract Trait Stereotypes by Respondent Sex 66
3.8 Ideology of Typical Congresswoman by Respondent Sex 68
3.9 Ideology of Typical Congressman by Respondent Sex 68
3.10 Demographic Predictors of Abstract Attitudes 69
3.11 Demographic Predictors of Abstract Female Policy
Stereotypes 70
3.12 Demographic Predictors of Abstract Male Policy
Stereotypes 71