NCJ Number
210188
Journal
Social Forces Volume: 82 Issue: 2 Dated: December 2003 Pages: 703-723
Date Published
December 2003
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study tested a previously observed relationship between women’s participation in government and lower levels of governmental corruption.
Abstract
Two recent studies have noted that larger numbers of women in government has resulted in reductions in governmental corruption. Both studies assumed that the observed decline in corruption was caused by the female characteristics of honesty and work toward the common good. The author of the current study argues that the observed link between female participation in government and declines in corruption is spurious and is instead caused by the context of liberal democracy which, as a political system, encourages gender equality and between governance in general. Following a review of the two studies in question, the author contends that the original conclusions may have been based on model misspecifications or faulty inferences. Drawing on data of female participation and corruption from the United Nations, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Fraser Institute, and the Freedom House, the author proposes a fairer system explanation in which increased female participation in government and decreased governmental corruption are both outcomes of higher political liberalization. Results of multivariate regression analyses indicated that although female participation in government and lower levels of corruption may be correlated under certain circumstances, their relationship is correlational and not causal. Future research should evaluate the “fairer system” thesis with different data, operational definitions, and samples. Tables, notes, references