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The Role of Gender in Parliamentary Attacks and Incivility
[journal article]
Abstract It has been well established that politicians attack their competitors to reach their political goals. As such, there is a considerable amount of literature on their attack behaviour. However, this literature almost exclusively investigates attack behaviour during campaigns, and so far, few studies ... view more
It has been well established that politicians attack their competitors to reach their political goals. As such, there is a considerable amount of literature on their attack behaviour. However, this literature almost exclusively investigates attack behaviour during campaigns, and so far, few studies have addressed the nature of attacks during more routine times in parliaments. This article aims to fill this gap by examining in-parliament attack behaviour and, more specifically, the gender characteristics of attacks. It is theorised that women are less likely to attack and be attacked than men due to the stereotypical gender roles. However, it is anticipated that this compliance to stereotypes diminishes as proximity to elections increases, resulting in women engaging in attacks as much as men. To limit the cost of their divergence, attacks employed by and toward women are expected to be more civil. Lastly, this study argues that adherence to gender stereotypes is stronger in countries with candidate-centred parliamentary systems than party-centred ones. This study finds support for the theoretical framework using longitudinal data on individual attacks in the parliaments of Belgium, Croatia, and the UK. Results confirm that politicians adhere to gender stereotypical roles in parliaments, with women attacking and being targeted less than men, and when women do attack or are targeted, less incivility is employed. Proximity to elections makes both women and men more hostile, but women lower the cost of their increasing attack behaviour by using less incivility, unlike men who increasingly opt for uncivil attacks closer to elections. Additionally, these findings strongly apply in the candidate-centred system of the UK, whereas in the party-centred system of Belgium and Croatia, hardly any support for the theory can be found.... view less
Keywords
gender; parliament; political communication; gender-specific factors; communication behavior; politician; ; representative
Classification
Sociology of Communication, Sociology of Language, Sociolinguistics
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Women's Studies, Feminist Studies, Gender Studies
Free Keywords
attacks; incivility
Document language
English
Publication Year
2022
Page/Pages
p. 286-298
Journal
Politics and Governance, 10 (2022) 4
Issue topic
Negative Politics: Leader Personality, Negative Campaigning, and the Oppositional Dynamics of Contemporary Politics
ISSN
2183-2463
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed