(iPoster) Gender Differences in Leadership on Criminal Violence and Perceptions of Safety

• In Event: Poster Session: Crime, Violence, Institutions in Comparative Politics

Abstract

As the number of women entering political office has increased, there has been increasing interest in whether men and women are perceived and act differently in political leadership. Although, there has been little research on the difference between women and male leadership especially around security and crime. In this paper I examine whether there is a difference in the preceptive and objective level of safety and security in a municipality depending on whether a woman or man is in office. Examining gender differences in this context is important due to the rise of women in political office. I use the case of Mexico because the number of women in local office has increased significantly post 2014 and 2019 amendments to their gender quota law where revisions were made regarding its application to different levels of government and parity. In addition, Mexico continues to experience high rates of violence by organized criminal groups. Furthermore, I am answering two questions: (1) what are the differences in criminal violence in a municipality when under women’s leadership compared to men’s and are individuals perceiving security in their communities differently under a woman's leadership? Using data on elected candidates, criminal violence, and public opinion surveys around security from 2016 to 2024 I answer these questions using a Regression Discontinuity Design. I argue that there is a difference in municipalities level of criminal violence depending on whether they have a woman or man as their mayor, in addition, individuals change their perception of security and safety in their community. Furthermore, the goal of the paper is to examine empirically if there are differences in perceptions and objective violence in municipalities that are led by women compared to men.

Author

• Haley Daarstad, University of California, Davis