Voting and Gender

Voting is the process by which political representatives are chosen to “stand for” a country’s electorate and make decisions on their behalf. Gender influences politics and voting in a number of ways, both for individual voters and for candidates who run for office. Systematic differences exist in the attitudes and behaviors of male and female citizens, including the kinds of candidates they support and the opinions they hold on policy issues. Candidate gender also influences voters’ perceptions and evaluations of the people who run for office, as voters often apply gender-based stereotypes to candidates and office holders. This entry will discuss several facets of the relationship between gender and voting, beginning with the effects of gender on voters and ending with the relationship between a ...