Capacity or Gender: An Experimental Study of Voters’ Choice of Female Congressional Candidate

• In Event: Gendered Influence on Electoral and Legislative Behavior

Abstract

Employing an online experimental survey of voters' choice of congressional candidates, this paper tries to answer the question as whether voters are to lend the same support to female congressional candidates comparing to male candidates. Evidence suggests that voters may value the capabilities of female congressional candidates the same as male candidates, they are more likely to choose to vote for male candidates.

Authors

• Diqing Lou, Wuhan University

• Jingzhu Sun, Sun Yat-sen University