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Sex and Politics—New Alignments, Old Issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2022

Kathleen A. Frankovic
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Extract

The relationship between sex and political behavior has been discussed only in passing in the political science literature, if it is discussed at all. There has been little evidence from the 1940s to the 1970s that gender plays a role in determining issue positions, candidate evaluations, or candidate preference, as a quick perusal of some well-read political science works would confirm.

Berelson, Lazarsfeld and McPhee in Voting, the seminal work on opinion formation in a presidential campaign, discovered no relationship between vote preference and sex. The researchers did discover a difference in reported interest in the 1948 campaign between men and women early in the campaign, but even that difference faded as the election drew near.

Campbell, Converse, Miller and Stokes in The American Voter make no mention of either the existence or non-existence of sex difference in policy or candidate preference. They focus instead on differences in turnout, involvement and efficacy. Although they suggest that at one time opinions about Prohibition may have separated men from women, the authors conclude, “In the current era, there is no reason to believe that women as women are differentially attracted to one of the political parties.”

Pomper in Voters' Choice does find a relationship between sex and one issue dimension–the dimension of war and peace. But Pomper, Campbell and Berelson agree that any sex differences cannot, by definition, be long-lasting. Berelson cites the lack of differentiation in the way policies affect the sexes, the lack of differences in intergenerational transmission, and the lack of segregation between the sexes.

Type
The 1982 Congressional Elections
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , Summer 1982 , pp. 439 - 448
Copyright
Copyright © The American Political Science Association 1982

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References

1 Berelson, Bernard R., Lazarsfeld, Paul F. and McPhee, William N., Voting: A Study of Opinion Formation in a Presidential Campaign (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1954)Google Scholar.

2 Campbell, Angus, Converse, Philip E., Miller, Warren E., and Stokes, Donald E., The American Voter: An Abridgement (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1964), p. 261 Google Scholar.

3 Pomper, Gerald M., Voters' Choice: Varieties of American Electoral Behavior (New York: Dodd Mead & Co., 1975)Google Scholar.

4 Berelson, et al., pp. 73-75.

5 Pomper, p. 84.

6 Jennings, M. Kent and Niemi, Richard E., The Political Character of Adolescence: The Influence of Families and Schools (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1974)Google Scholar.

7 These data were collected for entire households through one proxy respondent. Consequently, they are subject to problems of recall, knowledge and possible social desirability effects. However, they do have the virtue of comparability over time.

8 Wolfinger, Raymond E. and Rosenstone, Steven J., Who Votes? (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1980), pp. 41–44 Google Scholar.

9 Midge Decter, in the April/May 1982 issue of Public Opinion, suggests that male respondents lie when they say they favor the Equal Rights Amendment. If they do, lying should occur when male respondents are being interviewed by female interviewers. Analysis of CBS News/New York Times polls show no significant interaction effects of sex of interviewer and sex of respondent on this question.

10 Campbell, et al., p. 261.