Understanding Gender Differences in Political Donations in Canada

Democratic participation can be indirectly channeled through political parties connecting elites to voter preferences. Political donations are one influential mode of support that may alter party practices, impacting policy priorities, recruitment strategies, and leadership (Cross et al 2022; Tolley et al 2022). As political donors hold significant roles in shaping the outcomes of democratic systems, understanding factors that influence such behaviour is key to identifying potential barriers to democratic representation. Research has shown that men are more likely than women to donate to political parties (Tolley et al. 2020, McMahon et al 2023), yet women can be more generous in charitable donations to non-political causes. This gender-based difference in the likelihood of financially contributing to political parties suggests a potential for unequal participation in shaping party behaviour. In previous work, we found that gender differences in political donations were reversed when financial resources were equalized (Mehravar, Alcantara, & Roy 2023). In this paper, we build upon our initial findings to examine the mechanisms affecting gender differences in political donation. To do so, we draw upon a pre-registered survey experiment that manipulates financial resources and issue priming. Combined with measures on the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (Carver et al 2013), our work seeks to disentangle the role that resources, issues, and personality play in explaining gender differences in the likelihood of donating to political parties and which parties are most likely to benefit from these donations.