1. Targets of Opportunity or Targets of Discrimination? Female Incumbents and Challenger Emergence.
- Author
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Fulton, Sarah
- Subjects
- *
WOMEN in politics , *INCUMBENCY (Public officers) , *SEX discrimination , *POLITICAL participation , *ELECTIONS - Abstract
Why are female incumbents more likely than males to be challenged? Perhaps female incumbents confront greater challenger competition because they are more likely than males to be vulnerable. If this is the case, then the gender disparity in electoral competition does not necessarily signal discrimination â" rather, it suggests that women attract strategic challengers on the lookout for targets of opportunity. Alternatively, female incumbents may be more likely to be challenged than males, not because they are disproportionately vulnerable, but rather by virtue of the fact that they are women. In contrast to the first explanation, this suggests something more normatively problematic -- that women are targets of discrimination. Unpacking these causal processes is significant because it illuminates the presence or absence of gender discrimination. But, previous research has not been able to distinguish between the two explanations because of the absence of an adequate measure of incumbent vulnerability. Using unique measures derived from a survey of informed district experts, I am able to control for this previously omitted variable. My results present a more troubling conclusion about gender equity in electoral politics. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2009