Kao Benstead Intersectionality Jordan

Bringing Intersectionality In:
Gender, Islamism, and Ethnicity in

Elections
Kristen Kao (The Program on Governance and Local Development,

University of Gothenburg)
Intersectionality
• Social identity categories such as gender,

religious ideology, and ethnicity are interactive,
interconnected, and mutually constitutive
(Crenshaw 1991; Mugge and Erzeel 2016) yet
they are treated as distinct, homogenous units
in current research.
• The intersection of two or more identities is not
additive, but interactive (King 1988).
• Earnings of black women are higher relative
to those of white women than the earnings of
black men relative to those of white men
men.
• Candidate with intersecting identities should be
Research Questions
• How do voters evaluate candidates

with overlapping social identities?
• How do popular theories about vote

choice do when considering
intersecting identities?
• In the context of the Arab world, what

role does candidate gender, Islamist
ideology, and ethnicity play in
determining vote choice particularly
when these identities intersect?
The Context
• Since 1989, Jordan has had an elected

legislature within a monarchy.
• Clientelism/wasta dominates the
political sphere.
• Tribalism/ethnic identification is highly
salient.
• Islamist parties and the IAF in
particular have a history of being
popular.
• Since 2003 that has been a gender
Common Theories of Vote
Choice
Social Identification Theory (In-group preferences):
Voters implicitly locate candidates into social in-groups
and out-groups and favor their in-group (Turner 1982;
Tajfel et al. 1971).
Power Relations Theory: Voters locate candidates into

social groups, but their perceptions of groups depends on
social hierarchies. Members of socio-economically
advantaged/politically dominant groups are more likely to
be stereotyped as more capable at attracting resources to
provide individual and district services in clientelistic
settings.
Gender Role Congruity Theory: Women are often

positively stereotyped as being nice, honest, and caring,
but these characteristics are not associated with strong
leadership (Rossenwasser and Seale 1988). Prejudices
Experimental Design
On a scalefrom 1 to 10, how likely
would you beto vote in thefuturefor
[insert randomized statement here]
Question stem wherenumber 1 means you would you
definitely not votefor this candidate
and number 10 means that you would
definitely votefor this candidate:
Female An educated woman.

Maletribal An educated man who is a member of
member your tribe(asheera).
Femaletribal An educated woman who is a member
member of your tribe(asheera).
An educated man who is a member of
MaleIslamist
theIAF (theMuslim Brotherhood).
Female An educated woman who is a member

Islamist of theIAF (theMuslim Brotherhood).
Male An educated man.
Results – Basic Model
Offers support for power relations theory and

some support for gender role congruity.
Intersectionality at play for females.
Results – Gender (Base : Male)
Support for SIT – female voters prefer female

candidates. But also gender role congruity, which
argues that gender stereotypes apply more to men
than women.
Results – Islamists (Base: Non-Islami
Evidence for SIT– Islamists prefer Islamists

and non-Islamists reject them.
Results – Tribalists
Evidence for SIT- tribalists are significantly more

likely to favor tribal candidates. Power relations
theory at work - male Islamists receive least
favorable ratings.
Conclusions
(1) Intersectionality theory is needed:
• Intersecting identities confound the most

popular theories of vote choice in the
literature today.
• Females can leverage intersecting identities

to do better in elections.
(2) Social identification, gender role congruity, and

power relations theories complementary not
competing:
• Further research needed to sort out the

mechanisms behind what drives voters to
candidates, particularly when dealing with
intersectional identities.
Thank you!
Please send comments to:
kristenkao@gmail.com
Jordan GLD Post-Election Survey
2014
• Household survey with 1,499
respondents
• Stratified random sample clustered at

the district level
• Tablet administration
Social Identification Theory
(In-group preferences):
Voters implicitly locate candidates into social
in-groups and out-groups and favor their in-
group (Turner 1982; Tajfel et al. 1971):
Women will prefer female candidates and

men will prefer male candidates.
Islamists will prefer Islamist candidates and

non-Islamists will prefer non-Islamist
candidates.
Tribalists will prefer members of their own

Power Relations Theory:
Voters locate candidates into social groups, but
their perceptions of groups depends on social
hierarchies. Members of socio-economically
advantaged/politically dominant groups are more
likely to be stereotyped as having higher status and
as more capable at attracting resources to provide
individual and district services in clientelistic
settings.
Overall, male candidates will be preferred over

female candidates.
Overall, non-Islamist candidates will be preferred

over Islamists.
Gender Role Congruity Hypothes
Women are often positively stereotyped as

being nice, honest, and caring, but these
characteristics are not associated with
strong leadership (Rossenwasser and
Seale 1988). Prejudices arise from lack of
overlap between gender and leader roles
(Eagly and Karau 2002). Women are less
susceptible to these biases than men
though.
Overall, female candidates will be less

electable than male candidates.

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Bringing Intersectionality In:

Gender, Islamism, and Ethnicity in

Kristen Kao (The Program on Governance and Local Development,

• Social identity categories such as gender,

• How do voters evaluate candidates

• How do popular theories about vote

• In the context of the Arab world, what

• Since 1989, Jordan has had an elected

Power Relations Theory: Voters locate candidates into

Gender Role Congruity Theory: Women are often

Female An educated woman.

Female An educated woman who is a member

Offers support for power relations theory and

Support for SIT – female voters prefer female

Evidence for SIT– Islamists prefer Islamists

Evidence for SIT- tribalists are significantly more

• Intersecting identities confound the most

• Females can leverage intersecting identities

(2) Social identification, gender role congruity, and

• Further research needed to sort out the

Please send comments to:

• Stratified random sample clustered at

Women will prefer female candidates and

Islamists will prefer Islamist candidates and

Tribalists will prefer members of their own

Overall, male candidates will be preferred over

Overall, non-Islamist candidates will be preferred

Women are often positively stereotyped as

Overall, female candidates will be less

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