The Changing Politics of Women: Gender and Political Alignment in 11 Nations

In: European journal of political research: official journal of the European Consortium for Political Research, Band 17, Heft 3, S. 241-262

Abstract

Closely comparable survey data collected in 11 countries in the early 1980s are used to examine gender differences in political alignments. The results show that in 10 of the 11 countries, women are more conservative than men, by differing degrees. The exception is Australia, where women are more left-wing than men. The sources of these gender differences are shown to be differential levels of workforce participation & religiosity. Once these & other factors are taken into account through multivariate analysis, women follow the Australian pattern & emerge as more left-wing than men in 6 of the 10 countries; in the remaining 4 countries, greater female conservatism is substantially reduced. Various explanations to account for these patterns are discussed. 3 Tables, 2 Figures, 50 References. Modified HA