Considering Integrative Negotiation Competency Development as a potential antidote to gender gaps in political participation

While equal participation is fundamental to democracy, empirical studies often show inequalities in political participation (Coffé & Dilli,2015). Seeking to understand the origins of disparities in political involvement, a recent systematic review (Kleer et al., 2023) found a clear and consistent gender gap in Political Interest (PI) and Internal Political Efficacy (IPE). Internal political efficacy refers to one’s beliefs about one’s ability to understand and participate in the political process (Kleer et al., 2023; Niemi et al., 1991, Lane, 1959). If PI and IPE play a significant role in political participation among women, it could be helpful to understand not only all components of the mindset but also potential underlying and related constructs and processes. Several items constitute a widely used self-report measure of IPE (Niemi et al., 1991), each targeting internal efficacy toward different areas of the political participation domain. Efficacy beliefs concerning understanding of political issues might be based on, and influenceable from different sources than one’s belief about one’s ability to vote, or do a good job in public office. Each part of the domain (as represented by IPE scale items) might, in one’s mind, require a different skillset, or concern performance of different tasks. Some of these tasks may (in one’s mind) entail e.g. more or less conflict, opportunities for disagreement, or the necessity to negotiate agreements. Negotiation and conflict are inherent to political participation. Could women be evading politics as a function of avoiding conflict and negotiation? A UK study found women feel less comfortable with interpersonal political conflict than men, even when controlling for political interest and efficacy (Coffé & Bolzendahl, 2017), and political conflict avoidance was negatively related to participation in general, independent of political interest and efficacy. While women (often) report higher levels of conflict avoidance than men, gender gaps in political engagement cannot always be explained by women’s greater aversion to conflict (Wolak, 2022). An interestingly nuanced conclusion with implications for learning and teaching emerged in the recent US study – namely, that people’s positive reactions to conflict better explain the decision to engage in politics than negative reactions to disagreements (Wolak, 2022). Could development of negotiation and conflict transformation competency in youth affect internal political efficacy via e.g. negotiation efficacy or implicit beliefs about malleability of negotiation or conflict transformation competencies? In citizenship education and research, cultivation of negotiation skillset and mindset has received limited attention from. Better understanding of conflict and negotiation mindsets, and their relationship to internal political efficacy and political participation could potentially be helpful in guiding efforts mitigating gender inequalities in political engagement. This paper aims to make an argument for future research investigating these connections.