Running uphill: A comparative analysis of the gender gap in campaign financing

Sudulich, Laura; Trumm, Siim; Makropoulos, Iakovos

Abstract

Women are not a demographic minority, but they certainly are a minority in politics. Most legislative bodies across the world are still overwhelmingly male. Female candidates cite lack of resources as one of the main deterrents to run. Using data on candidates encompassing twenty-eight elections in sixteen countries between 2006 and 2017, we examine the role of electoral institutions, partisanship and candidates’ political profile in mitigating – or aggravating – the gender resource gap. We find that female candidates systematically avail of significantly lower campaign budgets. This is true across different electoral systems and on the left as well as on the right. The gap is larger in size among incumbents. It is also wider in parties that use voluntary quotas and put forward more female candidates. Moreover, the budget composition of male and female candidates varies considerably. Male candidates tend to use higher proportions of their own resources, while female candidates rely on proportionally higher party contributions, that are, however, smaller in size.

Citation

Sudulich, L., Trumm, S., & Makropoulos, I. (2024). Running uphill: A comparative analysis of the gender gap in campaign financing. European Journal of Political Research, https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12741

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 13, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Nov 13, 2024
• Publication Date: Nov 13, 2024
• Deposit Date: Oct 16, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 14, 2026
• Journal: European Journal of Political Research
• Print ISSN: 0304-4130
• Electronic ISSN: 1475-6765
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12741
• Keywords: campaigns; gender resource gap; candidate studies
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/40581696
• Publisher URL: https://ejpr.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14756765
• Additional Information: Received: 2023-11-28; Accepted: 2024-10-13; Published: 2024-11-13