The Qualifications Gap: Why Women Must Be Better than Men to Win Political Office
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Description
What does it take for women to win political office? This book uncovers a gendered qualifications gap, showing that women need to be significantly more qualified than men to win elections. Applying insights from psychology and political science and drawing on experiments, public opinion data, and content analysis, Nichole M. Bauer presents new evidence of how voter biases and informational asymmetries combine to disadvantage female candidates. The book shows that voters conflate masculinity and political leadership, receive less information about the political experiences of female candidates, and hold female candidates to a higher qualifications standard. This higher standard is especially problematic for Republican female candidates. The demand for masculinity in political leaders means these women must "look like men" but also be better than men to win elections.
Link to Catalog
LOC Call Number
HQ1236.5 .U6 B38 2020
ISBN
9781108836326
Publication Date
2020
Department
Department of Political Science
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
City
Cambridge
Recommended Citation
Bauer, Nichole M., "The Qualifications Gap: Why Women Must Be Better than Men to Win Political Office" (2020).