Female Political Candidancy

Abstract

Factors which influence female political candidacy were investigated. The results indicated significant gender differences on the following hypotheses: H1: Female and male political leaders will differ in their uses of interpersonal power; H2: Female and male political leaders will identify different motivations in seeking public office; and, H3: Female and male political leaders will differ in their perception of barriers to participation as political candidates. The secondary perspective of race was also considered but was not found to be a significant barrier to female candidacy. This significantly predictive model has regional and international implications, and future studies will tested it comparatively by state and region to affirm its generalizability.

Female Political Candidacy: A Racial and Gender Perspective

This study examines the use of interpersonal power by females in elected political positions, the factors that influence women to run for elected office, and the barriers that hinder female candidacy. Drawing from three areas of gender difference - women and development (IWPR, 2000), institutionalization of power relationships (Parsons, 1969), and socialization of gender roles (Bennett and Bennett, 1999; Lindsey, 1997) - the research focuses on women in elected political leadership positions using a comparison of women and men matched by elected positions in the State of Mississippi, USA. The hypotheses were: H1: Female and male political leaders will differ in their uses of interpersonal power; H2: Female and male political leaders will identify different motivations in seeking public office; and, H3: Female and male political leaders will differ in their perception of barriers to participation as political candidates. The secondary perspective of race is evaluated using statistical methods on a non-matched comparison of African Americans and Caucasians who responded to the gender study.

Economic arguments and incentives for...