Might More Women Make a Difference? Gender, Party and Ideology among Canada's Parliamentary Candidates

Abstract

AbstractThe policy consequences of having more women in positions of political power remain an issue of debate in the literature on women and politics. Since differences in the attitudes of women and men politicians are important to this question, data on gender differences in the opinions of politicians are a welcome contribution to the debate. This article explores the question of gender differences in opinion among a sample of candidates for the 1993 Canadian general election and considers whether differences persist once party is taken into account. The findings confirm the view that on issues particularly related to women, gender does structure opinion. On other issues, while party plays a predominant role in differentiating opinion, gender has an imprint, albeit variable by party and attitudinal domain.