The Persistence of Gender in Campaigns and Elections

This chapter covers two key areas in which gender shapes electoral politics from the perspective of political psychology: candidate evaluation and campaign strategy. The bulk of the chapter reviews scholarship about the role of gender stereotypes in candidate evaluations. This work includes stereotypes about traits and policy positions as well as the intersection of gender, partisan, racial, and ethnic stereotypes. The section on candidate evaluation also addresses the effects of sexism and voters’ affective responses to candidates. The section on campaign strategy summarises research about the ways in which candidates and their consultants tailor campaigns to compensate for or take advantage of voters’ gender stereotypes. Overall, the chapter argues that while the impact of gender is often context-dependent, gender remains a highly relevant factor in electoral politics.