NEW PUBLICATION @PoliticsGenderJ @randybesco, @semrasevi and I examine ~ 5 million donations to Canadian political parties and candidates over a 25-year period. Are donations gendered? /1 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/politics-and-gender/article/who-controls-the-purse-strings-a-longitudinal-study-of-gender-and-donations-in-canadian-politics/C9022C261315FB306100D76998871AB8

We match donor gender to candidate and party data. We find women are more likely to donate to women candidates, but they donate less often and in smaller amounts than men in #cdnpoli /2

Even after Canada began to limit the amount donors could give (a possible equalizer), the gender gap only narrowed a bit. In 1993, 27% of donors to federal parties and candidates were from women; by 2018, that figure was 34%. High was in 2016, when 38% of donors were women /3

Gender gaps have narrowed in other domains (e.g., election to Parliament, voter turnout), but the gendered donation gap is durable. Gap is particularly striking in donations >$500. In 1993, 27% of large donations were from women; 25 years later, proportion still just 28% /4

Does party matter? 43% of NDP donors are women, compared to 35% of Liberal donors, and 29% of Conservative donors. The Liberals made a slight dent in the NDP advantage in 2015 when they ran on a feminist platform, but lost ground afterwards /5

Where do donors direct their contributions? Is it to candidates, the local party association, or to the national party? We find fewer donations to candidates and the local party come from women than donations to the national party /6

This finding might reflect informal local networks, which are often gendered. Most local party activists and candidates are male, and they may rely on their networks for donations. By appealing broadly to women voters, parties might circumvent these relationships /7

Although women and men are equally likely to vote for women candidates in #cdnpoli, we find a difference among donors, with women donors more likely to give to women candidates. Women candidates are thus relying on women donors who, unfortunately, donate less /8

Our work speaks directly to US research on gender and donations (see work by @micheleswers @JakeMGrumbach @sahnicboom @MCrowderMeyer @jrpjrpjrp and others cited in the article) /9

The US research suggests gendered donor networks, such as EMILY's List, encourage women to donate to women candidates and thus drive gender affinity, but no such infrastructure exists in Canada /10

Our findings suggest gender affinity among Cdn donors & candidates may reflect individual rather than institutional factors, but women donors’ preference for national parties over local candidates & party associations suggests networks may matter in other ways /11

Thank you to @SSHRC_CRSH which funded the study, Sheeriza Azeez and @annaejohnson for A+ research assistance, and the journal's editorial team and four anonymous reviewers (esp R2 who went to bat for descriptive political science!) /end