Quarterly Journal of Political Science > Vol 11 > Issue 1

Electoral Competition and Gender Differences in Political Careers

Olle Folke, Department of Government, Uppsala University & Research Institute for Industrial Economics, Sweden, olle.folke@statsvet.uu.se , Johanna Rickne, Research Institute for Industrial Economics & Uppsala Center for Labor Studies, Sweden, johanna.rickne@ifn.se
 
Suggested Citation
Olle Folke and Johanna Rickne (2016), "Electoral Competition and Gender Differences in Political Careers", Quarterly Journal of Political Science: Vol. 11: No. 1, pp 59-102. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/100.00014161

Publication Date: 18 Apr 2016
© 2016 O. Folke and J. Rickne
 
Subjects
Women in Politics,  Comparative Politics,  Representation
 
Keywords
Careers in politicsvertical inequalitypolitical competitionsupply of politicians
 

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In this article:
1. Introduction 
2. Related Literature and Conceptual Framework 
3. Swedish Municipalities and Party Nomination Procedures 
4. Data and Descriptive Statistics 
5. Empirical Strategy and Main Results 
6. Competition and the Supply of Politicians 
7. Competition and the Candidate Selection Process 
8. Conclusions 
References 

Abstract

This paper analyzes the role of competition between political parties for the promotion and turnover of social minorities in party organizations. We collect extensive and reliable panel data for the career trajectories of all Swedish politicians in 290 municipal councils over 20 years (N=35,000). We argue that political competition pushes local parties to promote the best individual, which in turn improves gender equality at the top. This finds strong support in the empirical analysis. Heightened competition is associated with smaller gender gaps in re-election, retention on the electoral ballot, and promotions to top positions. An extended analysis shows that variation in the qualifications and family structures of male and female politicians cannot account for these results. As a more plausible mechanism, the analysis suggests that parties have nomination processes that are less centralized and more focused on competence as a selection criteria when competition is fierce.

DOI:10.1561/100.00014161