Who Is Responsible for the Gender Gap? The Dynamics of Men’s and Women’s Democratic Macropartisanship, 1950–2012

• Published date: 01 December 2017
• DOI: 10.1177/1065912917716336
• Date: 01 December 2017
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912917716336

Political Research Quarterly

2017, Vol. 70(4) 749 –761

© 2017 University of Utah

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DOI: 10.1177/1065912917716336

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Article

The gender gap first garnered publicity in the aftermath

of the 1980 presidential election. Subsequent research

has identified differences in men’s and women’s opin-

ions, ideology, knowledge, and partisanship (Huddy,

Cassese, and Lizotte 2008; Ondercin and Jones-White

2011). Initially heralded as a success of the second wave

of the women’s movement, these gender gaps were

mainly attributed to changes in women’s political behav-

ior (Abzug 1984; Smeal 1984). Further analyses, how-

ever, suggest the gender gap may be less about women’s

behavior than it is about men’s behavior (Kaufmann and

Petrocik 1999; Norrander 1999). Despite a robust body of

scholarship on the gender gap, we do not have a clear

understanding of the origins of the gender gap in partisan-

ship, or whether the gap is a function of men leaving the

Democratic Party or women growing more Democratic.

This article addresses these shortcomings by analyz-

ing the dynamics of men’s and women’s partisanship

separately from 1950 to 2012. Drawing on research that

claims partisan attachments are driven by social identities

(Green, Palmquist, and Schickler 2002), I argue the gen-

der gap is a function of men and women changing their

partisanship as they seek the best representation of their

gendered social identity from the political parties.

Specifically, changes in the parties due to party realign-

ments and shifts in the composition of the congressional

delegations have provided individuals with a clearer sig-

nal on which to base their partisan attachments. Men and

women have responded to these signals and developed

different political identities over the past seventy years,

resulting in the gender gap in partisanship.

This article makes four contributions. First, it furthers

our understanding of macro political behavior by examin-

ing the political dynamics of subgroups in the electorate.

Social identities, such as sex, divide and structure the elec-

torate.1 Moreover, these divisions have important political

implications for electoral politics (Diekman and Schneider

2010; Schaffner 2005). By understanding how sex struc-

tures partisan attachments over time, we gain insight into

electoral changes. Second, this paper provides a more

complete theoretical explanation of the gender gap. While

occasionally acknowledging that men’s behavior may

716336PRQXXX10.1177/1065912917716336Political Research QuarterlyOndercin

research-article2017

1College of Wooster, OH, USA

Corresponding Author:

Heather L. Ondercin, College of Wooster, Kauke Hall, 1189 Beall

Avenue, Wooster, OH 44691, USA.

Email: hondercin@gmail.com

Who Is Responsible for the Gender

Gap? The Dynamics of Men’s and

Women’s Democratic

Macropartisanship, 1950–2012

Heather L. Ondercin1

Abstract

I argue the gender gap is a function of men and women changing their partisanship as they seek the best representation

of their gendered social identity from the political parties. Specifically, shifts in the parties due to party realignments

and shifts in the composition of parties’ congressional delegations have provided individuals with a clearer signal on

which to base their partisan attachments. Men and women have responded differently to these signals and developed

different political identities over the past seventy years, resulting in the gender gap in partisanship. To test this theory,

I have constructed an innovative macro-level dataset of men’s and women’s partisan attachments on a quarterly

basis between 1950 and 2012. I use a Seemingly Unrelated Regression framework to estimate patterns of men’s

and women’s Democratic macropartisanship and whether particular factors contribute to the gender gap by having

different effects on men’s and women’s partisanship. The results are consistent with my theoretical expectations,

highlighting how symbolic images shape partisan attachments, and demonstrate the gender gap is a function of changes

in both men’s and women’s macropartisanship.

Keywords

gender gap, partisanship, elite cues