Poll: Women Have Become More Interested and Participatory in U.S. Politics Since 2016, But Also Disengaged
Data shows female political interest and participation is on the rise, but with it comes political disengagement. Barriers to entry is a consideration when looking at political disengagement among women, where childcare and financial obligations are cited as a reason for political withdrawal.
This research began with a hunch. In recent years, I noticed a pattern among the attitudes of women: those who were once apolitical now seemed to be consumed by making sure her voices was heard, female political pundits publicly marked their irritations with the current U.S. administration on a daily basis, and my own personal conversations with female friends took similar form- each bound by a shared feeling of loss, anxiety for the future, and a curiosity seeking out political advocacy. This is when I knew I wanted to research if women had, in fact, sought out ways to become more politically involved since the 2016 election of President Donald Trump, and if so, how and why.
METHODOLOGY: 75 female-only participants from various geographical regions in the United States were polled. The objective was to measure the variables of female interest in the political process before and after the 2016 presidential election, and then separately measure female participation in the political process for the same time frame. The regions of the participants were from the Southwest, predominantly California, and the Southeast, predominantly North Carolina, with a small number of respondents from the the Northwest and Northeast regions in the U.S. The cultural and political stances from these regions are distinct from each other. This is intentional for obtaining results that encompass a multitude of viewpoints. For results to be conclusive, the poll measures the opinions of women from a variety of backgrounds, regions, ages, and ideologies before and after the 2016 presidential election. The 14-question survey also poses questions relating to barriers to entering politics, interest in working in politics after 2016, satisfaction with the incumbent administration, satisfaction with how the incumbent administration prioritizes policy affecting women, and political ideology. The age of respondents ranged from age 19 to 90, with a median age of 55. The responses to these questions are fundamental to this research. We also implore historical and socioeconomic analysis of women’s political participation. The question throughout this study is, do otherwise apolitical women become political involved when they are dissatisfied with an incumbent administration’s rhetoric and policies, and how do they choose to participate?
RESULTS: As seen, the majority of women contributed politically in some way after the 2016 election. Only 1.6% of respondents did not participate politically in any capacity.
The activities most consistent with female political participation after November 2016 are voting (96%), consuming political news (90.7%), donating to a political cause (61.3%), and sharing political issues on social media (61.3%). In the “other” category choice, the majority of women who chose this list contacting their representatives (5%). The political action eliciting the lowest response is running for office (2.6%).
The polling results reveal a 22.67% increase in women who have taken a serious interest in politics since the 2016 election. As seen below, 48% of women identify themselves as “very interested” in politics before the 2016 election, where 70.67% identify themselves as “very interested” after the 2016 election. A significant discovery is an 8% increase in women who identified as “disinterested” in politics after 2016.
Although the data shows that women are increasingly interested in the political process following 2016, there are also women have become disinterested. The disinterested category is the only other increase occurring in the respondent’s answers regarding after the 2016 election. It is important to note that the largest quantitative increase in political interest is still women who identify as “very interested” in politics. This finding suggests that although women are taking a serious interest in politics after 2016, they are also becoming disengaged, but at lesser rates.
There is indication of a similar 22.67% increase for political participation among women. As seen below, 17.33% of respondents identified as “very involved” before 2016, and 40% of women identified as “very involved” after 2016. In addition, the only other increase for the question of political participation was among respondents who identified as “not involved.” Here, political disengagement rose by 2.67% after the 2016 election. This is the same phenomenon that occurred when asked earlier about the women’s political interest. The percentage of respondents very involved in political participation saw the largest quantitative increase, but political disengagement also increased, just at smaller rates.
72% of respondents claim their political participation changed in some way after the 2016 election. The respondents were asked to elaborate in what way they had changed. A few respondents instead cite their motivation for participating in the democratic process. These respondents recount the 2016 presidential election of Donald Trump, the fear of losing their rights, and feeling that minority and immigrant rights were being threatened. The rest of the respondents who answered the question directly cite their involvement through political organizations, increased protest, registering to vote and voting, increased political contributions, increased news consumption, and becoming more vocal in political conversations.
This reveals that motivation to work in politics polled low and the barriers to participating in the political process polled high among the women. According to the respondents, the most unsurpassable barriers contributing to their lack of participation were the shortage of time, childcare and financial restraints, respectively. Other barriers were listed as lack of interest in politics, work obligations, secure in preferred party’s influence in policy, and lack of knowledge regarding politics.
Although most respondents identified as “interested” or “very interested” (a combined 86.7%) and as “involved” or “very involved” in politics since 2016 (a combined 65.3%), the graph below shows that, when polled, the majority of women (62.67%) are reluctant to work in politics after 2016. This self-elimination is a vital reason to understanding why women who consider themselves interested in democratic participation do not want to fully immerse into the political process. Out of the respondents that claimed to face barriers to political participation, 12% claimed to yield to these barriers as opposed to overcoming them.
When asked about the incumbent administration, women showed general dissatisfaction. They ranked the administration’s overall performance on a scale from one to ten, one being the worst and ten being the best. Here, 68% of respondents ranked the current administration with a one- the lowest possible ranking. When asked if the administration prioritizes policy they deem important for women, given the same ten-point rating scale as one being the worst and ten being the best, 57.33% of respondents ranked the current administration with a one- marking the lowest possible ranking a second time. Respondents who self-identified as more participatory and interested in politics were the least satisfied with the incumbent administration. This confirms the theory that dissatisfaction with the current administration is motivating women to become more politically involved.
Ideology and region also impact the way the women approached politics. The results indicate that political stance and place of residence affected the increase in female interest and likelihood of political participation since the 2016 election. Out of the respondents who self-identified as left-leaning, or liberal, 82% claimed they were “very interested” in politics and 54% claimed to be “very involved” in politics since 2016. In contrast, out of the respondents who identified as right-leaning, or conservative, 54% claimed to be as “very interested” in politics and only 18% claimed to be “very involved” in politics since the 2016 election. In regard to region, out of fifty California respondents, 74% claimed to be “very interested,” and 48% were “very involved” in politics after 2016. Out of nineteen North Carolina respondents, 52% claimed to be “very interested.” Participation polled the weakest among North Carolina women, where only 15% were “very involved” in politics after 2016. This suggests barriers to entry are higher in regions where cultural and political ideology are more conservative.
DISCUSSION: According to the results, women have become increasingly dissatisfied with the incumbent administration and its policies. In response, they have become more interested and participatory in the political process. Respondents cite their motivation for political participation as, “urgency to motivate lawmakers to protect rights that are being rolled back,” “feeling as if justice is out of balance,” and “worry for disenfranchised citizens, the economy, immigrants and the constitution.” This shows that dissatisfaction in regard to policy that not only affects them as women but other disenfranchised groups, are what is motivating them to become politically involved. Women exerted political action through traditional and non-traditional means of participation. Traditional means include voting, donating to a political cause, and attending a march or demonstration. Non-traditional means include reading, listening to, or watching news on political issues, sharing political issues on social media, and creating political art or writing. The means of participation which saw the least amount of enthusiasm among women was running for public office, and working in politics. This shows a disconnect between enthusiasm to take part in the political process as stakeholders, volunteers or advocates, but barriers to entry as potential public office holders, and in leadership positions.
Ironically, the same reasons women feel motivated to get politically involved is also why some women become disinterested and disengage entirely politically. Political ideology among respondents was not indicative of feelings of disinterest, as respondents with both liberal and conservative stances made up the responses of feeling disinterested by the current political landscape. The increase of political disinterest and intentionally disengaged women can be analyzed by two contrasting theories: political disillusionment, often known as burnout, or by one’s satisfaction with the status-quo.
The repetition of unmet expectations can lead to political burnout. Burnout is generally defined by the characterization of exhaustion, distress, a feeling of reduced effectiveness, accompanied by decreased motivation. Burnout develops over time, resulting from “misfit between intentions and reality.” Respondents include their reasons for political disinterest and disengagement as frustration with the state of politics and lack of confidence in their own political efficacy. In Burnout in Political Activism: An Existential Perspective, Ayala M. Pines argued that political burnout is brought on more readily for highly motivated political activists with high goals and idealistic values. When a person expects a sense of existential significance from political activism, and when these high stakes are unachieved, many approach this failure with burnout. This may be more in accordance with respondents who feel that they are not able to create the fully developed egalitarian world they want to see; therefore, they give up on the system entirely.
The respondent’s disinterest could also be justified by their satisfaction with the incumbent administration, its policy and current political attitudes. This is relevant to respondents who identify as conservative and also claim to be disinterested and disengaged in politics since 2016. In Disinterest, Disaffection, and Participation and Presidential Politics, Warren E. Miller states that “the more satisfied, the more indifferent and, therefore, the more nonvoting.” This explains the phenomenon of the contented non-participants. Essentially, Miller’s theory is that the more satisfied one is with the political climate, the more indifferent they become to the political process. An additional theory in Religious Beliefs, Gender Consciousness, and Women’s Political Participation, Erin Cassese and Mirya R. Holman state that persons with conservative political ideology are more likely to hold “very traditional views of the roles for men and women, often idealizing women’s traditional role” in the home where they are less likely to be interested, thus involved, in the political sphere.
Overall, the findings show an increase in women’s interest and participation in the political process after the 2016 election. However, more respondents claimed to be very interested in politics than very involved in politics. This demonstrates that women who identify as having high political interest do not necessarily take the steps to actively participate in the democratic process. This thereby reveals that barriers to women entering politics are still in effect. The data has pinpointed a timeframe: before and after the 2016 election. It is a snapshot of a two-year change in political attitudes and their influence on interest and participation in the democratic process. The results indicate women are entering the political sphere in higher rates, and conclude that female participation and interest increase when the state of the nation does not meet a policy standard they are satisfied with.
