Leaders, Corruption, and Gender: Are Female Leaders Penalized More Heavily?

• In Event: New Research on Leaders in International Politics

Abstract

Are male and female leaders treated differently by their electorates when they engage in illegal use of their public positions, and if so, why? Recent studies have found that women may be less likely than men to engage in corruption, and that women are perceived more generally to be more risk averse and honest than their male counterparts. Others have found that there is no difference between how male and female politicians are treated, and that female politicians do not face significantly greater punishment for misconduct. Most of this research, however, has been based on experimental surveys in developed nations such as the United States or the United Kingdom. In this paper, we take a broader view and look at actual corruption charges against world leaders. Using a data set on leaders spanning from 1945 to 2015, we find that while female politicians are substantially more likely to be charged with corruption than their male counterparts, they are less likely to be imprisoned. We conduct a theory building exercise, introducing evidence from the tenure of Turkish PM Tansu Çiller and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, to explore the mechanisms operating to explain this trend.

Authors

• Madison V. Schramm, U.S. Army War College

• Alexandra Stark, Georgetown University

• Loriana Crasnic, University of Zurich