"Gendered Campaign Brochures: Same Party, Different Strategies in the Korean Local Elections"

What determines the electoral success of female candidates? While we know that party, personal qualification, and incumbency matter for female candidates’ electoral performance, we know little about how female candidates differ from their co-partisan male candidates in terms of responsiveness and how the difference affects the electoral outcome. I argue that women who respond to more diverse issues of their district can enter the male dominant politics. Using campaign brochures from the Korean local legislative election in 2014 and 2018 under a multi-member district system, this paper examines how female candidates’ strategies differ from their co-partisan male candidate running for the same district. The project will examine whether female candidates who delivered more issues are more successful in gaining votes than their male co-partisan rival.