Democracy or Diversity: The Effect of the Personal Vote on the Representation of Women

Abstract

Many scholars have discussed the consequences of the personal vote on the behavior of legislators, yet little scholarship has been devoted to the effect of the personal vote on the success of women candidates. My paper engages this important issue, employing a comparative lens to examine how voters respond to women candidates in electoral systems with and without a personal vote. Contrary to the assumptions of the existing literature, I find that the effect of the personal vote is conditional, dependent upon the level of bias against women leaders.

Keywords: personal vote, gender, electoral system