Comparative Politics

B03 - Workshop: Experiments on Political Elites and Attitudes Towards Leadership

Date: May 30 | Time: 10:30am to 12:00pm | Location: Classroom - CL 317 Room ID:15750

Joint Session / Séance conjointe : with Political Behaviour/Sociology

Chair/Président/Présidente : Jason Roy (Wilfrid Laurier University)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Eline de Rooij (Simon Fraser University)

Attitudes Towards Women in Government: Results From an Experiment in Alberta and Quebec: Melanee Thomas (University of Calgary), Valérie-Anne Mahéo (Université de Montréal)
Abstract: Women are under-represented in governments around the world. Failure to include diverse populations in government calls into question the legitimacy of institutions. The objective of this study is to enhance empirical knowledge of attitudes about leadership, and to examine barriers to expanding diversity in government. The central hypothesis of this research is that increased exposure to women in government reduces gender bias regarding perceived leadership potential of a candidate. In this study, we present the results of a randomized block experiment with a 2x2x2 factorial arrangement that was conducted with 670 CEGEP and university students in Quebec and in Alberta in 2017. Treatments were 500 word speeches by federal candidates, belonging to each of the two major parties, with the same speech by male and female candidates. Differences between speeches relating to party provided an experimental control effect, or context against which to measure sex effects. We investigate how young Canadians from two provinces evaluate the capacity of women and men to govern, in general, as well as in specific policy areas. We test the expectations of Role Congruity Theory and Social Categorization Theory by paying specific attention to the conditioning effects of the participants’ sociodemographic background and partisan identification. This study is part of a large-scale cross-national experiment about attitudes towards women in government in eight countries (Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, England, Israel, Sweden, Uruguay and the US).

Candidates’ Responsiveness to Question-Wording Effects: A Survey Experiment Conducted During the Quebec 2017 Municipal Election: Colin Scott (McGill University), Mike Medeiros (University of Amsterdam)
Abstract: Low levels of voter turnout in local elections, gender disparities in organizational hiring practices, and debates over the wearing of religious symbols have brought a number of issues – and proposed solutions – pertaining to participation into the public domain. How do politicians evaluate these issues, and to what extent are their attitudes shaped the nature of the information presented to them? To examine these questions, we fielded a unique survey experiment conducted with political candidates in Quebec’s 2017 municipal election. Specifically, we examine (i) the effect of increasing the saliency of low turnout on politicians’ support for alternative forms of voting (i.e., online voting) and lowering the voting age; (ii) how information about women’s underrepresentation affects support for affirmative action policies in municipal government administrations; and, (iii) how contrasting information about public support for, and the discriminatory consequences of, a ban on religious symbols affects politicians’ support for these issues. In this study we employ a series of question-wording experiments to gain insights into the effect of information frames on politicians’ attitudes toward various issues pertaining to participation. The study therefore employs a framework to better understand the decision-making process among political elites regarding issues that are socially and politically sensitive.

Can Public Opinion Change the Votes of Members of Parliament?: Peter Loewen (University of Toronto), Daniel Rubenson (Ryerson University)
Abstract: Can politicians learn and act on the wishes of their constituents? For this ideal of a “delegate” model of representation to be obtained, we argue that at least four conditions must be met. First, politicians must have ready access to accurate information on the preferences of their constituents.  Second, they must be able to learn from this information. Third, politicians must be free to act on that information as individual agents. Fourth, there must be opportunities for them to act on that information. We have two objectives in this short paper. The first is to specify the very narrow conditions under which members of parliament may be able to access, learn, and act freely on data about their constituents’ preferences. We argue that this is limited by the availability of data and by party discipline. Moreover, we argue that there is an interaction between the distribution of opinions on issues and party discipline that further constrains the ability of members to act on data. Learning, while difficult, should be less of a constraint, though not an entirely absent one. The second objective of our paper is to present results from two related experiments with Canadian members of parliament that demonstrate that very few members appear responsive to public opinion. This, we argue, is likely the result of both the distribution of opinions on the issues in question and the heavy hand of party discipline.