Give 'Em Something to Talk about: The Influence of Female Candidates' Campaign Issues on Political Proselytizing

Previous research has demonstrated that the presence of a woman on the ballot is linked to political proselytizing among women. Yet this type of political engagement is enhanced when certain contextual conditions are met. We hypothesize that women are more likely to proselytize when female candidate...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Politics & policy (Statesboro, Ga.) Ga.), 2008-02, Vol.36 (1), p.32-59
Main Authors: Stokes-Brown, Atiya Kai, Neal, Melissa Olivia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Candidates
Females
Political aspects
Religious aspects
Rhetoric
Sex differences (Psychology)
Women in politics
Women politicians
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Summary:Previous research has demonstrated that the presence of a woman on the ballot is linked to political proselytizing among women. Yet this type of political engagement is enhanced when certain contextual conditions are met. We hypothesize that women are more likely to proselytize when female candidates stress women's issues than when female candidates do not emphasize women's issues. Using American National Election Study (ANES) data, we find that the combined effect of candidate gender and candidate issues is positively related to proselytizing among women. However, economic issues, not women's issues, increase women's attempts to influence others' votes. Overall, the results demonstrate that female candidates and their issues provide important contextual cues to women that help in activating their political voice.
ISSN:1555-5623
1747-1346
DOI:10.1111/j.1747-1346.2008.00093.x