How perceptions and information about women’s descriptive representation affect support for positive action measures
| Author | Hilde Coffé,Marion Reiser |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0192512121995748 |
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Original Research Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512121995748
International Political Science Review
2023, Vol. 44(2) 139 –156
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/0192512121995748
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How perceptions and information
about women’s descriptive
representation affect support
for positive action measures
Hilde Coffé
University of Bath, UK
Marion Reiser
Friedrich-Schiller-University, Germany
Abstract
Based on the German Longitudinal Election Study (2016), we explain citizens’ support for measures to
increase women’s descriptive representation in parliament. Despite women’s underrepresentation, we find
little support for positive action measures, and in particular for legal gender quotas. Binary logit analyses show
that support for the introduction of positive action measures is not affected by citizens’ perceptions about
the share of female members of parliament. However, experimental data reveal that receiving information
about women’s actual proportion in parliament has an impact on citizens’ support for gender quotas, in
particular among those who overestimate women’s representation. Once they learn that the actual share
is lower than they thought, they are more likely to support the introduction of quotas. This indicates that
support for positive action measures can be changed through providing the correct information.
Keywords
Descriptive representation, gender quotas, public opinion, Germany, information-providing experimental
design, positive action measures
Introduction
While women’s descriptive representation has significantly increased during the last few decades,
they are still underrepresented in most parliaments around the world. To increase women’s repre-
sentation, more than 130 countries worldwide have introduced legal or party quotas during the last
few decades (Hughes et al., 2019). Mirroring this diffusion of quotas in many democracies, research
increasingly focuses on analyzing and explaining support for gender quotas. The available public
opinion literature has shown that support for gender quotas is quite mixed across nations, but tends
Corresponding author:
Hilde Coffé, Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies, University of Bath, Building 1 West North
2.36, PO Box 600, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
Email: h.r.coffe@bath.ac.uk
995748IPS0010.1177/0192512121995748International Political Science ReviewCoé and Reiser
research-article2021
Original Research Article
140 International Political Science Review 44(2)
to be relatively low (Barnes and Córdova, 2016; Beauregard, 2018; Bolzendahl and Coffé, 2020;
Keenan and McElroy, 2017). Although quotas have been introduced in many countries, they are
often considered as controversial (Bacchi, 2006; Teigen and Karlsen, 2020). Therefore, under-
standing public support is important for the legitimacy and effectiveness of quotas, and more gen-
erally positive action measures (Page and Shapiro, 1983). In addition, research shows that negative
attitudes towards quotas may negatively impact women and their political legitimacy in parliament
(Meier, 2008; Morgenroth and Ryan, 2018).
To further improve our understanding of public support for measures to increase women’s descrip-
tive representation in politics, we investigate to what extent perceptions about women’s representa-
tion affect support for positive action measures. Starting from an ‘exposure-based’ explanation
suggesting that people are influenced by what they see and perceive as being (un)fair (Bolzendahl
and Myers, 2004; Möhring and Teney, 2020), we anticipate that those who believe that there are few
women in parliament to be more likely to support positive action measures. In a second step, we test
how receiving the correct information about women’s representation affects public support towards
such measures. We expect receiving the correct information to influence their support, though assume
different effects between those who underestimate and those who overestimate women’s share.
To answer our research question, we rely on data collected in 2016 using an information-pro-
viding experimental design within the scope of the German Longitudinal Election Study. Although
women’s representation has substantially increased during the last decades in the Bundestag,
women are, with 30.9% since the 2017 Federal elections, still significantly underrepresented.
While four of the seven parties in the Bundestag have adopted voluntary gender quotas, the others
do not want to introduce quotas. The introduction of legal gender quotas is also widely discussed
in Germany, both within parties and among the public.
Theory
Support for positive action measures
Whether gender quotas are an appropriate measure to increase women’s representation has been
widely discussed in public and academic debates (e.g. Dahlerup, 2006; Mansbridge, 1999; Phillips,
1995). These debates tend to be controversial and normative since quotas have an impact on equal-
ity and representation, and represent a shift from ‘equality of opportunity’ towards ‘equality of
results’ (e.g. Bacchi, 2006). For voters, positive action measures obviously have implications for
who will represent them. Therefore, their support for the adaption of such measures is crucial for
the legitimacy of these measures. In addition, it shows whether the adopted measures are respon-
sive to public opinion. Research on elites’ and citizens’ support for positive action measures has
revealed different levels of support. At the elite level, for instance, Piscopo (2016) shows wide-
spread consensus in Latin America. Research on citizens’ support in a variety of contexts, however,
shows relatively low levels of support (e.g. Barnes and Córdova, 2016; Beauregard, 2018;
Bolzendahl and Coffé, 2020; Pereira and Porto, 2020).
Perceptions about women’s representation and support for positive action
measures
In recent years, an increasing number of studies has focused on the determinants of public support
for gender quotas (e.g. Allen and Cutts, 2016; Bolzendahl and Coffé, 2020; Gidengil, 1996). This
research has shown that women (as the target group of the policy) are more likely to favor such
quotas than men (Barnes and Córdova, 2016; Keenan and McElroy, 2017), which has been
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