Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP18641
Authors: Mona Morgan-Collins; Valeria Rueda
Abstract: Previous research identifies that women politicians facilitate other women’s political participation. Can women’s political activism also spur women’s electoral participation? Through the study of the British suffragists, we argue that women activists paved the way for other women’s political participation at a time when women politicians were virtually absent. Constructing a novel micro-level dataset of geocoded data from electoral registers, we leverage a unique historical case of the 1913 Women’s Suffrage Pilgrimage. Using a Differences-in-Differences strategy that compares polling divisions based on the proximity to the Pilgrimage across England, we provide evidence that exposure to the suffragists marching for parliamentary suffrage increased the registration of women eligible to vote in local elections. Analyzing contemporary news articles, we then document the pathways through which the suffragists incited other women’s political interest and therefore electoral participation. These findings have implications for the realization of substantive representation after suffrage.
Keywords: women; women in politics; women suffrage; political development; turnout
JEL Codes: N40; O43; D7; J15
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| suffragists as role models (B54) | incited women's political interest and participation (D72) |
| exposure to the marching suffragists (B51) | registration of women eligible to vote (K16) |
| polling divisions along the march route (Y91) | increase in the share of local electors (K16) |
| urbanization effects (R11) | potential confounders (C31) |
| strategic placement of the march route (R53) | potential confounders (C31) |