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October 10, 2008
More women candidates means more female voters
An interesting paper has just been published examining (non)voting trends at the last European elections and how a lack of interest by female voters can be resolved by increasing the number of women candidates. The key paragraphs are below but it is worth reading the whole article.
"Delving further into reasons for non-voting, we come up with explanations that can be helpful in informing the forthcoming campaign. Those who choose not to vote, our 'voluntary abstainers', do so because they are distrustful of politics, are critical of the European Union, or are just not interested in politics. Women abstainers, though, were considerably less likely to be interested in politics, and in the European elections, than men.
The issue of the public dis-trusting politics and political representatives speaks of a loss of communication between the public and representatives. It is a matter of particular concern for the European Parliament, when, as the only popularly elected European body, it is returned on a shrinking voter base. Euroskepticism is a legitimate political position to hold, and so parties with that outlook need to work on turning critical non-voters into critical voters.
Disinterest in politics, which women are more likely than men to profess, is something that can be turned around. But in countries where women comprised around one-third of the candidates, there was a higher level of political interest, and voter turnout, among women. The obvious solution presents itself: have more women contest the European elections. Other studies also show that the more women candidates there are in an election, the higher the level of interest among women in that context. And the more women candidates there are, the more women are likely to vote."
Posted by malcolmclark on October 10, 2008
