The gender gap in political knowledge revisited: Australia’s julia gillard as a natural experiment

Ian McAllister*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    4 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Surveys have found a persistent gender gap in political knowledge, with women knowing less about politics than men. This article tests the explanations for the gap using surveys collected in Australia between 2001 and 2016. The results show that the gender gap in knowledge was stable between 2001 and 2007, but declined significantly in 2010, and returning to trend in 2013 and 2016. The decline in 2010 is largely accounted for by the election of Australia’s first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, which resulted in women displaying greater media attentiveness. The results confirm other research suggesting that enhanced descriptive representation of women may help to close the gender gap in political knowledge.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)197-220
    Number of pages24
    JournalEuropean Journal of Politics and Gender
    Volume2
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jun 2019

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