As the number of women candidates for office in the U.S. increases each election cycle, scholars are confronted with questions about the impact of their sex on their chances for success. Chief among these questions involves the influence of gender stereotypes on the decisions voters make in elections in which women run against men. While previous research has claimed that gender stereotypes undermine women's chances of success, Kathleen Dolan, through an original national survey of over 3000 adults, turns this conventional wisdom on its head. She demonstrates that voters do hold gendered attitudes, both positive and negative, about women candidates, but that these attitudes are not related to the political decisions they make. Instead, in deciding for whom to vote, people are influenced by traditional political forces, like political party and incumbency, regardless of the sex of the candidates. In the end, When Does Gender Matter? shows that women candidates win as often as do men and that partisan concerns trump gender every time.

Kathleen Dolan is Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Acknowledgements List of Figures and Tables Chapter 1 - Candidate Sex and Gender Stereotypes in American Elections Chapter 2 - Studying Gender Stereotypes and Women Candidates Chapter 3 - Attitudes, Stereotypes, and Support for Women Candidates Chapter 4 - Do Stereotypes Shape Evaluations of Candidates? Chapter 5 - The Role of Stereotypes in Vote Choice Decisions Chapter 6 - Stereotypes in Other Places? Candidate Quality and Issue Campaigns Chapter 7 - The Landscape for Women Candidates Appendix A - Candidate Lists Appendix B - Variable Construction Appendix C - Campaign Ads and Websites Appendix D - Survey Instrument Appendix E - Additional Vote Choice Analysis Notes Bibliography Index