The Gender Gap in Clientelism: Lessons from the Argentine Case

This Paper examines the gender gap in clientelism by studying questions of political participation between male and female brokers in Argentina. Whereas party brokers have occupied a central role in the literature on clientelistic politics (see e.g. Kitschelt and Wilkinson 2007; Schaffer 2007; Allen 2011; Stokes et al. 2013; Szwarcberg, 2015) gender differences have been largely ignored. Accordingly, this paper seeks to open a much-needed discussion about the effects of gender differences in clientelism in particular and in politics in general. Using original evidence from Argentina, a developing country where clientelism thrives as much as women’s participation in politics, the Paper shows how even though female brokers work as much as male brokers, they are, nevertheless, systematically underrepresented politically. I find that female brokers engage in more time consuming problem-solving networks than male brokers, but wait longer to get paid and be nominated for political positions. Furthermore, I find that female brokers only engage in political activities connected with the welfare assistance of vulnerable population, usually by taking care of the elderly and children. This, in turn, reinforces traditional gender roles wherein women serve as caregivers of vulnerable populations. Consequently, women with a vocation to lead opt out of participating in local level politics. Whereas the findings presented in this paper are based on Argentina, there are good reasons to believe that they are present in other Latin American and developing countries. It is only by understanding the existence and persistence of the gender gap in politics that we can reach equality in democracies.