Did Female Suffrage Bolster Conservative Support? The Case of the Spanish Second Republic (1931-1939)

Conventional wisdom argues that the relationship between suffrage extension to women and conservative voting is robust and positive, especially in Catholic countries. Indeed, even prominent left-wing suffragettes argued against the introduction of female suffrage or to postpone it, at least until women were ready to make a ``conscious choice'' free of family or religious influence. I test this claim in the context of the Spanish Second Republic (1931-1936), a context in which a strong relationship could have been expected. By employing election results at the municipality level in different Spanish regions and a difference-in-differences approach, I show that the implementation of female suffrage did not benefit the right or the left, nor it had an impact on electoral participation. Therefore, results point to the idea that enfranchising women simply doubled the votes for each party and, hence, had little effect on vote choice or turnout.