Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T06:43:02.283Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Gender Differences in Negative Campaigning: The Impact of Party Environments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2016

Laurenz Ennser-Jedenastik
Affiliation:
University of Vienna
Martin Dolezal
Affiliation:
University of Vienna
Wolfgang C. Müller
Affiliation:
University of Vienna

Extract

How does gender affect the attack strategies of political actors? Do men and women diverge in their propensity to go negative and in their choice of targets? Extant research has long sought to shed light on these questions (e.g., Brooks 2010; Kahn 1993; Krupnikov and Bauer 2014; Proctor, Schenck-Hamlin, and Haase 1994; Walter 2013). Among all the possible determinants of attack behavior in elections, candidate gender has been one of the most “heavily studied” (Grossmann 2012, 2). However, the relevant research focuses almost exclusively on the United States and therefore on a system with candidate-centered campaigns, weak party organizations, and winner-takes-all competitions. Notwithstanding the importance of the USA as a case and exporter of campaign techniques, such context is specific and likely to bias the results. The few pioneering studies that examine the role of gender in negative campaigning outside the U.S. (Carlson 2001, 2007; Walter 2013) have addressed this question mostly by transferring the analytical framework of U.S.-based research to other political systems. Consequently, they have barely begun to incorporate the distinctive features of multiparty systems and strong party organizations as determinants of gender differences in attack behavior. The present article provides a novel argument about the role of party environments as a crucial context factor in party-centered political systems. Specifically we argue that in party-centered campaigns the gender balance within parties influences differences in the attack behavior of male and female politicians.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Archer, John. 2009. “Does Sexual Selection Explain Human Sex Differences in Aggression?Behavioral and Brain Sciences 32 (3–4): 249–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bear, Julia B., and Woolley, Anita Williams. 2011. “The Role of Gender in Team Collaboration and Performance.” Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 36 (2): 146–53.Google Scholar
Bhavnani, Rikhil R. 2009. “Do Electoral Quotas Work after they are Withdrawn? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in India.” American Political Science Review 103 (1): 2335.Google Scholar
Bittner, Amanda. 2011. Platform or Personality? The Role of Party Leaders in Elections. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Brambor, Thomas, Clark, William Roberts, and Golder, Matt. 2006. “Understanding Interaction Models: Improving Empirical Analyses.” Political Analysis 14 (1): 6382.Google Scholar
Bratton, Kathleen A. 2005. “Critical Mass Theory Revisited: The Behavior and Success of Token Women in State Legislatures.” Politics & Gender 1 (1): 97125.Google Scholar
Brooks, Deborah Jordan. 2010. “A Negativity Gap? Voter Gender, Attack Politics, and Participation in American Elections.” Politics & Gender 6 (3): 319–41.Google Scholar
Bystrom, Dianne G, Robertson, Terry, Banwart, Mary Christine, and Kaid, Lynda Lee. 2004. Gender and Candidate Communication: Videostyle, Webstyle, Newstyle. New York/London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bystrom, Dianne, and Kaid, Lynda Lee. 2002. “Are Women Candidates Transforming Campaign Communication?” In Women Transforming Congress, ed. Rosenthal, Cindy S.. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.Google Scholar
Campbell, Kevin, and Mínguez-Vera, Antonio. 2008. “Gender Diversity in the Boardroom and Firm Financial Performance.” Journal of Business Ethics 83 (3): 435–51.Google Scholar
Carlson, Tom. 2001. “Gender and Political Advertising across Cultures: A Comparison of Male and Female Political Advertising in Finland and the US.” European Journal of Communication 16 (2): 131–54.Google Scholar
Carlson, Tom. 2007. “It's a Man's World? Male and Female Election Campaigning on the Internet.Journal of Political Marketing 6 (1): 4167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caul, Miki. 1999. “Women's Representation in Parliament. The Role of Political Parties.” Party Politics 5 (1): 7998.Google Scholar
Caul, Miki. 2001. “Political Parties and the Adoption of Candidate Gender Quotas: A Cross–National Analysis.” Journal of Politics 63 (4): 1214–29.Google Scholar
Childs, Sarah, and Krook, Mona Lena. 2008. “Critical Mass Theory and Women's Political Representation.” Political Studies 56 (3): 725–36.Google Scholar
Craig, Stephen C., and Rippere, Paulina. 2013. “He Said, She Said: The Impact of Candidate Gender in Negative Campaigns.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago.Google Scholar
Dahlerup, Drude. 1988. “From a Small to a Large Minority: Women in Scandinavian Politics.” Scandinavian Political Studies 11 (4): 275–98.Google Scholar
Dinzes, Deborah, Cozzens, Michael D., and Manross, George G.. 1994. “The Role of Gender in Attack Ads: “Revisiting Negative Political Advertising.” Communication Research Reports 11 (1): 6775.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dolezal, Martin, Ennser-Jedenastik, Laurenz, and Müller, Wolfang C.. 2015. “When do Parties Attack their Competitors? Negative Campaigning in Austria, 2002–2008.” In New Perspectives on Negative Campaigning: Why Attack Politics Matters, ed. Alessandro Nai and Annemarie S. Walter. Colchester: ECPR Press.Google Scholar
Dolezal, Martin, Ennser-Jedenastik, Laurenz, and Müller, Wolfang C.. N.d. “Who Will Attack the Competitors? How Political Parties Resolve Strategic and Collective Action Dilemmas in Negative Campaigning.Party Politics. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
Dolezal, Martin, Ennser-Jedenastik, Laurenz, Müller, Wolfgang C., and Winkler, Anna Katharina. 2016. “Analyzing Manifestos in their Elctoral Context: A New Approach Applied to Austria, 2002–2008.” Political Science Research and Methods 4 (3): 641–50.Google Scholar
Eagly, Alice H. 1987. Sex Differences in Social Behavior: A Social-Role Interpretation. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Eagly, Alice H., and Karau, Steven J.. 2002. “Role Congruity Theory of Prejudice toward Female Leaders.” Psychological Review 109 (3): 573–98.Google Scholar
Eagly, Alice H., and Wood, Wendy. 1999. “The Origins of Sex Differences in Human Behavior: Evolved Dispositions versus Social Roles.” American Psychologist 54 (6): 408–23.Google Scholar
Eagly, Alice H., Wood, Wendy, and Diekman, Amanda B.. 2000. “Social Role Theory of Sex Differences and Similarities: A Current Appraisal.” In The Developmental Social Psychology of Gender, ed. Eckes, Thomas and Trautner, Hanns M.. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Eagly, Alice H, Wood, Wendy, and Johannesen-Schmidt, Mary C.. 2004. “Social Role Theory of Sex Differences and Similarities: Implications for the Partner Preferences of Women and Men.” In The Psychology of Gender, ed. Eagly, Alice H., Beall, Anne E. and Sternberg, Robert J.. New York/London: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Eder, Nikolaus, and Müller, Wolfgang C.. 2013. “Gender Voting: Party Quotas, Preferential Vote Results and Individual Campaign ‘Profiles’ in Austria.” Presented at the ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops, Mainz, Germany.Google Scholar
Elmelund-Præstekær, Christian. 2008. “Negative Campaigning in a Multiparty System.” Representation 44 (1): 2739.Google Scholar
Elmelund-Præstekær, Christian. 2010. “Beyond American Negativity: Toward a General Understanding of the Determinants of Negative Campaining.” European Political Science Review 2 (1): 137–56.Google Scholar
Ennser-Jedenastik, Laurenz, and Müller, Wolfgang C.. 2014. “The Selection of Party Leaders in Austria: Channeling Ambition Effectively.” In The Selection of Political Party Leaders in Contemporary Parliamentary Democracies. A Comparative Study, ed. Pilet, Jean-Benoit and Cross, W.. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Fenwick, Graham D., and Neal, Derrick J.. 2001. “Effect of Gender Composition on Group Performance.” Gender, Work & Organization 8 (2): 205–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, Richard Logan. 1997. Gender Dynamics in Congressional Elections. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francia, Peter L., and Herrnson, Paul S.. 2007. “Keeping it Professional: The Influence of Political Consultants on Candidate Attitudes toward Negative Campaigning.” Politics & Policy 35 (2): 246–72.Google Scholar
Fridkin, Kim L., Kenney, Patrick J., and Woodall, Gina Serignese. 2009. “Bad for Men, Better for Women: The Impact of Stereotypes during Negative Campaigns.” Political Behavior 31 (1): 5377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geer, John G. 2006. In Defense of Negativity. Attack Ads in Presidential Campaigns. Chicago: Chicago University Press.Google Scholar
Gordon, Ann, Shafie, David M., and Crigler, Ann N.. 2003. “Is Negative Advertising Effective for Female Candidates? An Experiment in Voters’ Uses of Gender Stereotypes.” The International Journal of Press/Politics 8 (3): 3553.Google Scholar
Grossmann, Matt. 2012. “Who (or What) Makes Campaigns Negative?The American Review of Politics 33 (1): 122.Google Scholar
Hansen, Kasper M., and Pedersen, Rasmus Tue. 2008. “Negative Campaiging in a Multiparty System.” Scandinavian Political Studies 31 (4): 408–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haselmayer, Martin, Meyer, Thomas M., and Wagner, Markus. 2015. “Who Gets into the Papers? Media Attention to Party Communication in Election Campaigns.” Presented at the 73rd Annual MPSA Conferece, Chicago.Google Scholar
Herrnson, Paul S., Lay, J. Celeste, and Stokes, Atiya Kai. 2003. “Women Running ‘as Women’: Candidate Gender, Campaign Issues, and Voter-Targeting Strategies.” Journal of Politics 65 (1): 244–55.Google Scholar
Herrnson, Paul S., and Lucas, Jennifer C.. 2006. “The Fairer Sex? Gender and Negative Campaigning in US Elections.” American Politics Research 34 (1): 6994.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hitchon, Jacqueline C., Chang, Chingching, and Harris, Rhonda. 1997. “Should Women Emote? Perceptual Bias and Opinion Change in Response to Political Ads for Candidates of Different Genders.” Political Communication 14 (1): 4969.Google Scholar
Kahn, Kim Fridkin. 1993. “Gender Differences in Campaign Messages: The Political Advertisements of Men and Women Candidates for US Senate.” Political Research Quarterly 46 (3): 481502.Google Scholar
Kahn, Kim Fridkin, and Kenney, Patrick J.. 2000. “How Negative Campaigning Enhances Knowledge of Senate Elections.” In Crowded Airwaves: Campaign Advertising in Elections, ed. Thurber, James A., Nelson, Candice J. and Dulio, David A.. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Kahn, Kim Fridkin, and Kenney, Patrick J.. 2004. No Holds Barred: Negativity in US Senate Campaigns. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. 1977a. Men and Women of the Corporation. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. 1977b. “Some Effects of Proportions on Group Life: Skewed Sex Ratios and Responses to Token Women.” American Journal of Sociology 82 (5): 965–90.Google Scholar
Kittilson, Miki Caul. 2011. “Women, Parties and Platforms in Post-Industrial Democracies.” Party Politics 17 (1): 6692.Google Scholar
Kleinnijenhuis, Jan, and Pennings, Paul. 2001. “Measurement of Party Positions on the Basis of Party Programmes, Media Coverage and Voter Perceptions.” In Estimating the Policy Positions of Political Actors, ed. Laver, Michael. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Klotz, Robert. 1998. “Virtual Criticism: Negative Advertising on the Internet in the 1996 Senate Races.” Political Communication 15 (3): 347–65.Google Scholar
Kriesi, Hanspeter, Grande, Edgar, Dolezal, Martin, Helbling, Marc, Höglinger, Dominic, Hutter, Swen, and Wüest, Bruno. 2012. Political Conflict in Western Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kriesi, Hanspeter, Grande, Edgar, Lachat, Romain, Dolezal, Martin, Bornschier, Simon, and Frey, Timotheos. 2008. West European Politics in the Age of Globalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Krishnan, Hema A., and Park, Daewoo. 2005. “A Few Good Women—On Top Management Teams.” Journal of Business Research 58 (12): 1712–20.Google Scholar
Krupnikov, Yanna, and Bauer, Nichole M.. 2014. “The Relationship between Campaign Negativity, Gender and Campaign Context.” Political Behaviour 36 (1): 167–88.Google Scholar
Kunovich, Sheri, and Paxton, Pamela. 2005. “Pathways to Power: The Role of Political Parties in Women's National Political Representation.” American Journal of Sociology 111 (2): 505–52.Google Scholar
Lake, Cecilia. 1984. Impact of Gender on Campaigns: A Study of Men and Women Candidates in 1982. Washington, DC: National Women's Political Caucus.Google Scholar
Lau, Richard R., Sigelman, Lee, and Rovner, Ivy Brown. 2007. “The Effects of Negative Political Campaigns: A Meta-Analytic Reassessment.” Journal of Politics 69 (4): 1176–209.Google Scholar
Lau, Richard R., and Pomper, Gerald M.. 2001. “Negative Campaigning by US Senate Candidates.” Party Politics 7 (1): 6987.Google Scholar
Lau, Richard R., and Pomper, Gerald M.. 2004. Negative Campaigning. An Analysis of U.S. Senate Elections. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Maier, Jürgen. 2015. “Do Female Candidates Feel Compelled to Meet Sex-Role Expectations or are They as Tough as Men? A Content Analysis on the Gender-Specific Use of Attacks in German Televised Debates.” In The New Perspectives on Negative Campaigning: Why Attack Politics Matters, ed. Nai, Alessandro and Walter, Annemarie S.. Colchester: ECPR Press.Google Scholar
Myaskovsky, Larissa, Unikel, Emily, and Dew, Mary Amanda. 2005. “Effects of Gender Diversity on Performance and Interpersonal Behavior in Small Work Groups.” Sex Roles 52 (9–10): 645–57.Google Scholar
Nai, Alessandro. 2013. “What Really Matters is Which Camp Goes Dirty: Differential Effects of Negative Campaigning on Turnout during Swiss Federal Ballots.” European Journal of Political Research 52 (1): 4470.Google Scholar
Nai, Alessandro, and Walter, Annemarie S., eds. 2015. New Perspectives on Negative Campaigning: Why Attack Politics Matters. Colchester: ECPR Press.Google Scholar
O'Brien, Diana Z. 2015Rising to the Top: Gender, Political Performance, and Party Leadership in Parliamentary Democracies.American Journal of Political Science 59 (4): 1022–39.Google Scholar
Panagopoulos, Costas. 2004. “Boy Talk/Girl Talk: Gender Differences in Campaign Communications Strategies.” Women & Politics 26 (3–4): 131–55.Google Scholar
Proctor, David E., Schenck-Hamlin, William J., and Haase, Karen A. 1994. “Exploring the Role of Gender in the Development on Negative Political Advertisements.” Women & Politics 14 (2): 122.Google Scholar
Sanbonmatsu, Kira. 2002. “Political Parties and the Recruitment of Women to State Legislatures.” Journal of Politics 64 (3): 791809.Google Scholar
Seethaler, Josef, and Melischek, Gabriele. 2014. “Phases of Mediatization. Empirical Evidence from Austrian Election Campaigns since 1970.” Journalism Practice 8 (3): 258–78.Google Scholar
Steininger, Barbara. 2000. “Representation of Women in the Austrian Political System 1945–1998: From a Token Female Politician towards an Equal Ratio?Women & Politics 21 (2): 81106.Google Scholar
Steininger, Barbara. 2006. “Frauen im Regierungssystem.” In Politik in Österreich. Das Handbuch, ed. Dachs, Herbert, Gerlich, Peter, Gottweis, Herbert, Kramer, Helmut, Lauber, Volkmar, Müller, Wolfgang C. and Tálos, Emmerich. Vienna: Manz.Google Scholar
Studlar, Donley T., and McAllister, Ian. 2002. “Does a Critical Mass Exist? A Comparative Analysis of Women's Legislative Representation since 1950.” European Journal of Political Research 41 (2): 233–53.Google Scholar
Thomas, Sue. 1994. How Women Legislate. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Walter, Annemarie S. 2013. “Women on the Battleground: Does Gender Condition the Use of Negative Campaigning?Journal of Elections, Public Opinion & Parties 23 (2): 154–76.Google Scholar
Walter, Annemarie S. 2012. Negative Campaigning in Western Europe: Beyond the Vote-Seeking Perspective Ph.D. diss. University of Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Walter, Annemarie S. 2014. “Choosing the Enemy: Attack Behaviour in a Multiparty System.” Party Politics 20 (3): 311–23.Google Scholar
Walter, Annemarie S., van der Brug, Wouter, and van Praag, Philip. 2014. “When the Stakes are High: Party Competition and Negative Campaigning.Comparative Political Studies 47 (4): 550–73Google Scholar
Wängnerud, Lena. 2009. “Women in Parliaments: Descriptive and Substantive Representation.” Annual Review of Political Science 12: 5169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Ennser-Jedenastik supplementary material

Appendix

Download Ennser-Jedenastik supplementary material(File)
File 16.5 KB