Gender gap in voting
Definition The difference in the percentage of
men and the percentage of women voting for a
given candidate or issue in an election
A trend differtiating the voting patterns of men and women
emerged and came to be acknowledged in the 1980’s. As a re-
sult of this so-called gender gap, political campaigns adopted
new strategies designed specifically to attract women’s votes.
When women received suffrage in 1920, many schol-
ars believed that female voters would immediately
unite and vote as a bloc, wielding significant polit-
ical influence. However, until 1980, women voters—
though voting in smaller numbers than men—
largely cast votes that followed the same pattern of
the men voting in any given election. In the 1976
presidential election, for example, women and men
voted for Democrat Jimmy Carter or Republican
Gerald Ford in almost identical proportions. The
1980 presidential election, however, produced a dra-
matic split between male and female voters, as women
supported liberal views and voted for Democratic
candidates more so than men. This split was labeled
“the gender gap.” Following 1980, this
gender gap continued, although it
would vary in its strength and effects in
subsequent elections.
Voting Patterns Throughout the
1980’s, the gender gap in voting pat-
terns existed across all other major
demographic categories, including
marital status, race, age, education, and
income. The gap was consistent and
often had a decisive impact on elec-
tion outcomes during the decade. As
women’s political participation in-
creased and their voting rates became
comparable to men’s, a gender gap
in party identification emerged. Women
identified with the Democratic Party,
while men shifted their allegiance to
the Republican Party. Women, more
than men, held and supported more
liberal and activist views consistent
with the Democratic positions on is-
sues such as the use of force, violence,
feminism, race, and the proper role of
government.
Statistics in Presidential Elections In 1980, women
preferred Ronald Reagan to Jimmy Carter, but by a
smaller margin than did men. Among women voters,
45 percent voted for Carter, 46 percent voted for Rea-
gan, and 7 percent voted for John Anderson. Among
men, 37 percent voted for Carter, 54 percent for Rea-
gan, and 7 percent for Anderson. Thus, while a ma-
jority of both sexes voted for Reagan, a gender gap of
9 percent was evident between the major parties.
In 1984, even with a female candidate for vice
president running on the Democratic ticket, a ma-
jority of both sexes again voted for Reagan, but the
gender gap persisted. Men favored Reagan over Wal-
ter Mondale 63 percent to 36 percent, while women
only supported Reagan by 56 percent to 44 percent.
Women were thus 8 percentage points more likely
than men to vote for Mondale.
In the 1988 presidential race, George H. W. Bush
received 57 percent of the men’s vote and only 50
percent of the women’s vote, while Michael Dukakis
captured 49 percent of women’s ballots and only 41
percent of men’s. Almost half of women preferred
Dukakis, the Democratic candidate, while a majority
of men voted Republican.The Eighties in America Gender gap in voting 403
The Gender Gap in the 1980’sA gender gap in voters’ political party identification became
evident in the early 1980’s. Larger proportions of women
considered themselves to be Democrats, while more men
identified themselves as Republicans, as reflected in these
poll statistics:Democrats Republicans
Date Women Men Women Men
June, 1983 43% 32% 21% 25%
April, 1984 40% 37% 28% 31%
May, 1985 38% 30% 31% 28%
June, 1986 40% 35% 29% 28%
May, 1987 44% 35% 30% 31%
May, 1988 41% 32% 29% 31%
June, 1989 36% 32% 31% 31%
May, 1990 38% 28% 30% 32%Source:CBS/The New York Timesand the Center for American Women and
Politics.