“In the decades after enfranchisement, women’s voting participation trailed that of men… Yet recent decades ushered in more equal rates of voter participation. Among whites, blacks, and Latinos alike, women have voted at higher rates in the last eight presidential elections. In U.S. presidential elections, women have outvoted men. In the 2012 presidential election, the proportion of eligible women voting was 63.7% and the proportion of men 59.8%.”
Although women’s voter turnout has caught up to men’s in recent decades, women’s participation in other forms of electoral activity continue to trail. In recent years researchers found that U.S. women are consistently less likely to participate in many activities in American politics—including making campaign contributions, joining political organizations, and writing letters to elected representatives.
One of the most prominent sets of explanations for gender gaps in participation emphasizes individual-level factors, such as women’s lower levels of the sorts of resources that enable political participation. Women simply have fewer resources, relative to men, and resources are crucial predictors of engagement.
Explore more gender differences in voting and political behavior.
Featured image: public domain via Unsplash.
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