2025/07/30 by Verena Reidinger · 1 voice · 1 citation
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Economics #Gender Politics and Representation #Gender Roles and Identity Studies #Historical Gender and Feminism Studies #Law #Law and economics #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Positive economics #Psychology #Representation (politics) #Social psychology #Sociology
paper · doi:10.1177/10659129251364219
published in Political Research Quarterly 78(4), 1394-1407 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2025/07/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Women’s representation has significantly increased in recent decades. Women even dominate some decision-making bodies. How do these changes influence men’s attitudes toward democratic institutions? I analyze original survey data and a factorial survey experiment from the UK, and demonstrate that equal representation does not affect men’s expectations regarding policy output. However, if men are under-represented, most men across various sub-groups believe institutions are less likely to cater to their interests. Furthermore, men’s perceptions of fairness are higher under equal representation compared to the under-representation of either group. These findings underscore the importance of upholding gender equality in democratic institutions.