Do political dynasties hinder gender equality in Philippine local politics?
Date
2023-07-03
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Abstract
This study analyzes the relationship between provincial political dynasties and the
electoral outcomes for female officials. Using fixed effects panel data regressions,
we analyze the impact of dynastic share per province on the share of locally elected
female officials in a sample of 78 provinces over five election years: 2007, 2010,
2013, 2016, and 2019. Contrary to our hypothesis, the share of political dynasties
within a province is negatively linked to local female electoral outcomes. The
results also showed that political dynastic share positively affects local electoral
outcomes for male candidates. These indicate that political dynasties still favor male
members over female members when fielding candidates in local offices. The
results also suggest that dynasties further widen the gender gap in local politics, in
favor of men. Political dynastic share also pulls the share of local female officials
away from the 30 percent threshold set by the Sustainable Development Goals. In
other words, an increase in political dynastic share steers local female participation
away from the goal of equalizing representation. Combining this result with the
benchwarmer effect wherein women act as placeholders once the dynastic
incumbent has exhausted the term limit, we posit that dynasties and dynastic women
may pose a threat on women’s substantive representation and meaningful
participation in local politics.
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Keywords
political dynasties, dynastic bias, local dynastic cycle, local elections, gender bias, gender gap, female leadership, female representation