Missing Men and Women’s Demand for Political Representation

Barbara Boelmann () and Carola Stapper
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Barbara Boelmann: University of Cologne
Carola Stapper: Johannes Kepler University Linz

No 18587, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: We shift the perspective from why men extended political rights to women toward what shaped women’s own demand. Exploiting World War I drafting variation, we study how male absence affected German women’s demand for the franchise. We construct a new panel of all suffragette clubs - a revealed-preference measure given high wartime costs. Women were more likely to keep clubs open where more men were absent, especially where women led war relief efforts, highlighting agency and leadership experience as the central mechanism. Demand persisted after enfranchisement, with more female candidates and higher female turnout in high-absence counties with a wartime club.

Keywords: women's political representation; suffrage movement; agency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D71 J16 N44 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-04
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