DIGSSCORE seminar: The Gendered Electoral Benefits of Personalized Parliamentary Activities

Corentin Poyet, associate professor at the Department of Government, will present at this first DIGSSCORE seminar of 2023. The presentation is titled "The Gendered Electoral Benefits of Personalized Parliamentary Activities"

The event is in a hybrid format, you are welcome to join us for lunch from the Corner room at DIGSSCORE. Food is provided on a first-come first-served basis. Zoom link for digital attendance.

Abstract:
Female politicians are considered unfit for office holding compared to their male counterparts. Moreover, even once in office, women generally undergo more negative evaluations and are more strongly penalized. Consequently, women are typically underrepresented in political institutions, and these negative perceptions and stereotypes jeopardize their career prospects in politics. This would be even truer in some electoral systems, such as open-list PR, that strongly reduce the impact of tools used to improve gender-balanced representation. Yet, very little is known about a potential gender divide in how voters reward (or punish) their representatives. The paper provides new insights by looking at female MPs' electoral performance and ability to capitalize on their track record to improve their electoral results. Drawing on data from Finland, the paper shows more nuanced figures about the discrimination that women experienced in OLPR systems. Female MPs are more strongly punished than men for short work. However, at the same time, hardworking female MPs can expect more electoral benefits than their male counterparts.

All are welcome!