European Journal of Political Economy· 2026Q1
Block vote, open-list proportional representation, and women’s electoral outcomes. Evidence from a quasi-experiment in Polish local elections
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- 2026year
Short summary
In Polish local elections, switching from block vote (below 10,000 population) to open-list proportional representation (above) had little average effect on women's representation.
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Key points
- Polish local elections used block vote below a 10,000 population threshold and open-list proportional representation above it.
- On average, there was little difference in women's representation between the two electoral systems.
- Voters selected fewer women than men from the same party ticket, even under the block vote system.
- This voter bias persisted even when controlling for candidate incumbency, ticket position, and age.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Although pioneering research suggested that proportional elections are better for women’s outcomes than plurality rules, research scholarship is accumulating growing evidence that this relationship depends on specific rules. We look at the impact of electoral rules on female participation in local legislative bodies using quasi-experimental variation in electoral systems in Poland. Below an exogenous population threshold, a mix of first-past-the-post and block vote was applied. Above the threshold, the system was open-list proportional representation. We find little difference between plurality and proportional elections on average. Furthermore, we find that voters chose women less often than men from the same ticket, even under block vote, i.e., when they could have supported all candidates from a chosen party, and even after controlling for the candidates’ incumbency status, position on the ticket, and age. Our results point to the limited and heterogeneous effects of electoral systems.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. European Journal of Political Economy, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Gender Studies
Gender StudiesSocial Sciences