How do Gender and Disability Intersect in Candidate Evaluations?

Both women and disabled people are underrepresented in political institutions across the world. While a wealth of research has examined how candidates’ gender affects voter perceptions of their traits, beliefs, and competences, similar insights on candidate disability have only recently started to emerge. But identities do not exist in isolation, and the intersection of gender and disability stereotypes are likely to produce unique challenges for disabled women and disabled men. Through a survey experiment with a conjoint design in the US and UK, we investigate how candidate gender and disability influence voters’ perceptions of candidates’ traits as well as their policy-specific competences and ideological positions. The findings reveal that while gender by itself has limited effects, some disability stereotypes seem to apply more to male than female candidates. The findings underline that intersectional approaches are vital for advancing our understanding of voter perceptions, candidate competition, and the underrepresentation of certain social groups.