How Does Primary Election Manipulation Affect the Selection of Women Candidates? Evidence from Malawi

TY - JOUR

T1 - How Does Primary Election Manipulation Affect the Selection of Women Candidates?

T2 - Evidence from Malawi

AU - Seeberg, Merete Bech

AU - Wahman, Michael

PY - 2024/4

Y1 - 2024/4

N2 - How does manipulation of primary elections affect the selection of women candidates for parliament? The underrepresentation of women in politics is a well-researched global phenomenon. However, as most work focuses on general elections, we overlook the disadvantages that women face in the selection process. Specifically, primary elections often provide ample room for manipulation. We argue that manipulation skews electoral contests in favor of candidates with material and inter-personal resources, who are more likely to be men. We collect unique data via on-the-ground observation of 119 primary election rounds (featuring 316 aspirants) in Malawi’s 2019 parliamentary election and interview candidates to shed light on hitherto uninvestigated internal party primaries. We show that while women running in free and fair primaries were more likely to win nominations than men, their chances were substantially reduced where primaries were flawed. The quantitative findings are corroborated by qualitative accounts of the gendered effect of primary-day manipulation in party primaries. The results have implications for debates on descriptive representation, electoral integrity, and political parties.

AB - How does manipulation of primary elections affect the selection of women candidates for parliament? The underrepresentation of women in politics is a well-researched global phenomenon. However, as most work focuses on general elections, we overlook the disadvantages that women face in the selection process. Specifically, primary elections often provide ample room for manipulation. We argue that manipulation skews electoral contests in favor of candidates with material and inter-personal resources, who are more likely to be men. We collect unique data via on-the-ground observation of 119 primary election rounds (featuring 316 aspirants) in Malawi’s 2019 parliamentary election and interview candidates to shed light on hitherto uninvestigated internal party primaries. We show that while women running in free and fair primaries were more likely to win nominations than men, their chances were substantially reduced where primaries were flawed. The quantitative findings are corroborated by qualitative accounts of the gendered effect of primary-day manipulation in party primaries. The results have implications for debates on descriptive representation, electoral integrity, and political parties.

KW - Malawi

KW - manipulation

KW - party

KW - representation

KW - selection

KW - women

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85193216253&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.5129/001041523X17032746836782

DO - 10.5129/001041523X17032746836782

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0010-4159

VL - 56

SP - 345

EP - 366

JO - Comparative Politics

JF - Comparative Politics

IS - 3

ER -