(Fe)male Leaders and Citizens’ Perceptions of Political Parties

Despite the growing number of female presidents, prime ministers, and party leaders worldwide, little is known about the broader consequences of women’s access to power. This Paper examines whether the presence of female leaders affects voters’ perceptions of political parties for 162 organizations in 26 OCED countries in elections between 1996 and 2015. Using public opinion data, it shows that female-led parties are perceived as less ideologically extreme than male-led organizations, even when accounting for parties’ actual policy statements. Building on these results, the Paper then uses a survey experiment to examine whether the sex of the party leader affects respondents’ beliefs about the organization’s ideological placement and competence on valence issues. These results provide important insights concerning the consequences of women’s access to power, while also contributing to the broader literature examining the links between voters and elites.