Replication Data for: Do Politicians’ Genders Influence Voter Persuasion?

Voter preferences for a politician’s gender have been considered a potential cause of women’s underrepresentation. Although recent studies demonstrate that voters do not dislike women candidates in elections, they may still doubt women’s competence and see persuasive behavior as counter-stereotypical for women. This may lead to the prediction that female politicians are less effective in persuading voters through their policy statements compared to men. However, evidence on this issue is scarce and mixed, with existing studies often having notable weaknesses in their experimental design. To address this problem in the literature, we carefully designed and conducted two preregistered survey experiments in the US and Japan, where electoral rules are candidate-centered, and women’s underrepresentation is severe compared to other developed countries. We asked respondents how much they agreed with the policy statement of a fictitious politician whose gender was randomized in a mocked campaign website or a municipality council newsletter. We also varied the statement’s issue area and ideological position to examine whether persuasion is more effective when it aligns with gender stereotypes. The results showed no significant difference in policy persuasiveness between women and men politicians. Moreover, we found partial evidence that women politicians had an advantage when they claimed gender-stereotype statements in Japan, while the opposite was true in the US.