Putting their money where their mouth is: The gendered dynamics of central party financial transfers to local election candidates

Abstract

Political parties around the world have made widely publicized efforts to improve women’s representation in elected office. While many have investigated these efforts by focusing on gender dynamics during candidate recruitment and selection, party support for women after they are nominated remains somewhat under-analysed. We begin addressing this gap by asking if central party bodies provide women candidates with additional financial support during general election campaigns. Our study leverages population data capturing intraparty financial transfers within three major parties during the 2008 and 2011 Canadian federal elections (n=1845). The results demonstrate that parties, regardless of ideology, can and do support women candidates with additional campaign funds. However, support from the centre is not always consistent across time or competitive contexts. We conclude that if political parties are sincere in wanting to reduce representational inequities, then consistently providing women candidates with additional financial support is another way of doing so.