A Reexamination of Women’s Electoral Success in Open Seat Elections: The Conditioning Effect of Electoral Competition

Tiffany D. Barnes, Regina P. Branton, Erin C. Cassese

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

This article reexamines gender differences in electoral outcomes. We consider whether electoral competition has a differential impact on the electoral fortunes of male and female quality candidates. This study uses an original data set containing detailed candidate information for US House open seat primary and general elections between 1994 and 2004. The results indicate that when multiple quality candidates enter the race, female quality candidates are at a greater disadvantage than their male counterparts. The results suggest that null findings from previous work are a product of the way the relationship between gender and electoral outcomes is typically modeled.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)298-317
Number of pages20
JournalJournal of Women, Politics and Policy
Volume38
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 3 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Keywords

  • Women and politics
  • female congressional candidates
  • general elections
  • primary elections
  • quality challengers

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Gender Studies
  • Sociology and Political Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A Reexamination of Women’s Electoral Success in Open Seat Elections: The Conditioning Effect of Electoral Competition'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this