Replication Data for: Das Potential offener Listen für die Wahl von Frauen zum Bundestag : Ergebnisse eines Survey-Experiments

Abstract

Women are underrepresented in the German parliament, especially in parties in and to the right of the political center. Gender quotas are frequently discussed as a remedy, but they infringe the liberties of parties, candidates, and voters. In contrast, open lists receive little attention, although they would avoid these constitutional issues. Therefore, we examine how many German voters - overall and by party - would choose female candidates from open lists. Theoretically, we expect that especially female voters, voters of left-leaning parties, and citizens for whom gender equality is a salient topic support female politicians. We also expect that voters tend to even out lists that are characterized by gender imbalance. Our research design utilizes an online survey-embedded experiment (N=2640) with a quota-representative sample of eligible voters. Participants chose between lists of the parties represented in parliament, with four fictitious candidates each. The share of women (25-75%) and the list type (closed vs open) were randomized. We show that both female and male voters consider the sex of the candidate, in line with the theoretical expectations. Our results suggest that female candidates would hardly be discriminated against, with some exceptions in specific subgroups (male voters of FDP, female voters of AfD). Taken together, this article shows that open lists enable citizens to cast preference votes in support of gender equality and that this opportunity is indeed seized. Across parties, voters level out unequal lists. Therefore, the electoral reform debate should pay more attention to the potential of open lists.