Women’s Descriptive Representation and Political Participation: An Analysis of Korean Local Elections (2022.03)
- Author : Woo Chang Kang and Jeeyoung Lee
- Publication : Korean Party Studies Review
- Publisher : The Korean Association Of Party Studies
- Volume : 21(1)
- Date : March, 2022
Abstract: Underrepresentation of women in politics is a widely recognized problem in Korea, yet empirical studies on the effect of women’s descriptive representation on female political participation are nonexistent. This research analyzes the effect of the number of female candidates and electees during the 2nd~7th Korean local elections on female turnout, revealing that female turnout increased when more female candidates ran for office and more female candidates were elected in the previous election. According to an analysis based on age, the effect of increased female representation on female turnout is most profound amongst female voters in their late 20s to 40s but not as substantial for women in their early 20s or 50s and beyond. Based on results by elections, increased female turnout due to greater representation initially appeared in the 5th election, when mandatory gender quota laws were implemented. Moreover, the effect of the number of elected females on female turnout is larger than that of the number of female candidates. These results show that an increase in female candidates and electees can lead to an increase in women’s political participation.