Exploring the Link Between Gendered Cultures and Gendered Voting Patterns. Masculine Culture and the Gender Gap in PRR Voting

Populist radical right (PRR) parties are gaining support and power in democracies worldwide. Although their voter base is predominantly male, the gender gap in support for PRR parties varies notably across countries. Research suggests that men and women do not differ in policy preferences central to PRR ideology, but depending on the country, there is a gap in their votes for PRR parties. What seems to keep women from voting for PRR parties is a greater responsiveness to social stigma and social cues. Building on these insights, this paper examines cross-national differences in the gender gap in PRR voting, proposing that the level of stigma – and consequently, the size of the gender gap – depends on the extent to which a country has a masculine culture. Masculine cultures, characterised by values such as competition, assertiveness, and material success, align with PRR ideology, making PRR support more socially acceptable and likely reducing the stigma that typically deters women. Thus, we expect the gender gap in PRR voting to be smaller in countries with stronger masculine cultures. We test our hypotheses using multilevel modelling on data from 20 European countries in the 2023 European Social Survey (ESS wave 11). Our results show that masculine culture has a positive effect on PRR voting, for both women and men. Our results also show that the effect of gender in predicting PRR voting decreases as masculine culture increases. These findings suggest that gender norms as well as broader gendered (political) cultural contexts shape political behaviour and vote choice differently for women and men.