2020/08/09 by Kristen Kao, Lindsay J. Benstead · 25 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Ethnic group #Gender Diversity and Inequality #Gender Politics and Representation #Gender studies #Identity (music) #Intersectionality #Political science #Power (physics) #Psychology #Social group #Social identity theory #Social psychology #Sociology
paper · doi:10.5129/001041521x15957812372871
published in Comparative Politics 53(3), 427-464 (City University of New York)
openalex publication_date 2020/08/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Many studies of women's electability in the developing world focus on single traits such as gender, ethnicity, or religion. Employing an original survey experiment in Jordan, we examine the impacts of multiple, intersecting candidate identities on voter preferences. We show empirically that existing theories of electoral behavior alone cannot account for women's electability. An intersectional lens that considers how power structures shape electability and produce complex effects that must be empirically verified in different contexts is needed. Although less electable overall, female candidates fare as well as males from similar social identity groups. Our findings underscore the need to apply intersectionality to theories of electoral behavior in the developing world and lay the groundwork for a larger research agenda explaining women's electability in Arab elections.