The Rise of Women in the Radical Right: Electoral Causes and Policy Consequences

• In Event: Causes and Consequences of Party Positions

Abstract

Once male-dominated radical right parties (RRP) are increasingly including women as MPs and leaders – from Marine le Pen in France to Pia Kjaersgaard in Denmark and Alice Weidel in Germany. The rise of women in RRPs is puzzling because traditionally these parties had very conservative views on the role of women in society. This paper addresses two key, related questions: under what conditions do radical right parties promote women as MPs and leaders, and do radical right parties with more women in their ranks shift their priorities to address women’s concerns? We argue radical far right parties are most likely to include women when the party is losing votes or has hit a plateau, as an attempt to reach out to the female voters who have historically been averse to voting for these parties. Once in office, women in radical right parties are likely to shift priorities, expanding the reach of far right parties to issues beyond immigration – both because of gender gaps in policy preferences among the far right supporters, and because women are often more cognizant of appropriate strategies to woo female voters.
To test this argument, we develop the most comprehensive dataset to date on women as MPs and leaders of parties across Europe and over time. The data include over 200 parties in 28 countries from 1982 to 2017. The first analysis examines parties’ selection of female leaders and inclusion of women in the parliamentary party – paying particular attention to the trajectories of radical right versus other parties. The second analysis explores the effects of women on party priorities using manifesto data. Of particular interest is the question of whether women in the radical right alter party priorities because of their own preferences (which we argue are different than men’s on some issues), or whether the share of women in the party and any party priority shifts are both the result of strategic decisions taken by the party to reach out to women voters. To make progress on this question, we leverage the imposition of national gender quota laws, which radical right parties are opposed to. We estimate models comparing the priorities of radical right parties that were forced to include women, and those that were not. The results have important implications for the extent to which the rise of radical right parties poses a threat to gender equality, both in terms of the balance of women and men in office and the gendered nature of the policies they promote.

Authors

• Miki Caul Kittilson, Arizona State University

• Bonnie M. Meguid, University of Rochester

• Ana Catalano Weeks, University of Bath

• Hilde Roza Coffe, University of Bath