Has women's suffrage ever decided an election?











up vote
29
down vote

favorite
1












I'm curious whether women's suffrage has ever changed the direction of an election. Polls often show differences between men and women, but they are often fairly highly correlated, so I wonder if women's suffrage has ever proved decisive in an election.



Since this is a matter of curiosity I'd welcome responses from anywhere in the world; or for more narrow focus: federal and gubernatorial elections in the United States following the adoption of the 19th amendment in 1920.



(The question is not whether or not women's suffrage confers political power on women. Candidates have to appeal to the populace long before the final election, and suffrage certainly affects that political calculus.)










share|improve this question


















  • 2




    Can you support your statement "they are often fairly highly correlated"? I'm not sure what you mean exactly
    – Azor Ahai
    yesterday






  • 2




    Any data based on actual voting assumes that men would have voted the same way if women weren't voting independently. But I can imagine many wives convincing their husbands to vote their way when they didn't have the right to vote for themselves.
    – Barmar
    yesterday






  • 1




    Women around the world significantly tend to vote more for issues like health care, familly aid, equal rights for LGBT and foreigners, free speech; things that would in the USA and Europe be considered politically "left" (Although: Keep in mind, the term alone doesn't mean anything). Men around the globe significantly lean politically "right" in this analogy. Depending from where you are from you may call this "progressive" and "conservative" instead, but the political gender split is huge; and regularly decides elections anywhere there is a democracy.
    – Robert Tausig
    23 hours ago












  • Ann Coulter has said that republican presidents would have gotten elected most/all of the time if only men were allowed to vote.
    – Andrew Grimm
    21 hours ago










  • @RobertTausig - huh? From what I've always read, women are far more likely to be religious and conservative than men, so I highly doubt they are somehow also more liberal in their voting, unless liberal women tend to vote more. Do you have any sources to back up your claim?
    – Davor
    11 hours ago















up vote
29
down vote

favorite
1












I'm curious whether women's suffrage has ever changed the direction of an election. Polls often show differences between men and women, but they are often fairly highly correlated, so I wonder if women's suffrage has ever proved decisive in an election.



Since this is a matter of curiosity I'd welcome responses from anywhere in the world; or for more narrow focus: federal and gubernatorial elections in the United States following the adoption of the 19th amendment in 1920.



(The question is not whether or not women's suffrage confers political power on women. Candidates have to appeal to the populace long before the final election, and suffrage certainly affects that political calculus.)










share|improve this question


















  • 2




    Can you support your statement "they are often fairly highly correlated"? I'm not sure what you mean exactly
    – Azor Ahai
    yesterday






  • 2




    Any data based on actual voting assumes that men would have voted the same way if women weren't voting independently. But I can imagine many wives convincing their husbands to vote their way when they didn't have the right to vote for themselves.
    – Barmar
    yesterday






  • 1




    Women around the world significantly tend to vote more for issues like health care, familly aid, equal rights for LGBT and foreigners, free speech; things that would in the USA and Europe be considered politically "left" (Although: Keep in mind, the term alone doesn't mean anything). Men around the globe significantly lean politically "right" in this analogy. Depending from where you are from you may call this "progressive" and "conservative" instead, but the political gender split is huge; and regularly decides elections anywhere there is a democracy.
    – Robert Tausig
    23 hours ago












  • Ann Coulter has said that republican presidents would have gotten elected most/all of the time if only men were allowed to vote.
    – Andrew Grimm
    21 hours ago










  • @RobertTausig - huh? From what I've always read, women are far more likely to be religious and conservative than men, so I highly doubt they are somehow also more liberal in their voting, unless liberal women tend to vote more. Do you have any sources to back up your claim?
    – Davor
    11 hours ago













up vote
29
down vote

favorite
1









up vote
29
down vote

favorite
1






1





I'm curious whether women's suffrage has ever changed the direction of an election. Polls often show differences between men and women, but they are often fairly highly correlated, so I wonder if women's suffrage has ever proved decisive in an election.



Since this is a matter of curiosity I'd welcome responses from anywhere in the world; or for more narrow focus: federal and gubernatorial elections in the United States following the adoption of the 19th amendment in 1920.



(The question is not whether or not women's suffrage confers political power on women. Candidates have to appeal to the populace long before the final election, and suffrage certainly affects that political calculus.)










share|improve this question













I'm curious whether women's suffrage has ever changed the direction of an election. Polls often show differences between men and women, but they are often fairly highly correlated, so I wonder if women's suffrage has ever proved decisive in an election.



Since this is a matter of curiosity I'd welcome responses from anywhere in the world; or for more narrow focus: federal and gubernatorial elections in the United States following the adoption of the 19th amendment in 1920.



(The question is not whether or not women's suffrage confers political power on women. Candidates have to appeal to the populace long before the final election, and suffrage certainly affects that political calculus.)







women voting






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 2 days ago









adam.baker

614515




614515








  • 2




    Can you support your statement "they are often fairly highly correlated"? I'm not sure what you mean exactly
    – Azor Ahai
    yesterday






  • 2




    Any data based on actual voting assumes that men would have voted the same way if women weren't voting independently. But I can imagine many wives convincing their husbands to vote their way when they didn't have the right to vote for themselves.
    – Barmar
    yesterday






  • 1




    Women around the world significantly tend to vote more for issues like health care, familly aid, equal rights for LGBT and foreigners, free speech; things that would in the USA and Europe be considered politically "left" (Although: Keep in mind, the term alone doesn't mean anything). Men around the globe significantly lean politically "right" in this analogy. Depending from where you are from you may call this "progressive" and "conservative" instead, but the political gender split is huge; and regularly decides elections anywhere there is a democracy.
    – Robert Tausig
    23 hours ago












  • Ann Coulter has said that republican presidents would have gotten elected most/all of the time if only men were allowed to vote.
    – Andrew Grimm
    21 hours ago










  • @RobertTausig - huh? From what I've always read, women are far more likely to be religious and conservative than men, so I highly doubt they are somehow also more liberal in their voting, unless liberal women tend to vote more. Do you have any sources to back up your claim?
    – Davor
    11 hours ago














  • 2




    Can you support your statement "they are often fairly highly correlated"? I'm not sure what you mean exactly
    – Azor Ahai
    yesterday






  • 2




    Any data based on actual voting assumes that men would have voted the same way if women weren't voting independently. But I can imagine many wives convincing their husbands to vote their way when they didn't have the right to vote for themselves.
    – Barmar
    yesterday






  • 1




    Women around the world significantly tend to vote more for issues like health care, familly aid, equal rights for LGBT and foreigners, free speech; things that would in the USA and Europe be considered politically "left" (Although: Keep in mind, the term alone doesn't mean anything). Men around the globe significantly lean politically "right" in this analogy. Depending from where you are from you may call this "progressive" and "conservative" instead, but the political gender split is huge; and regularly decides elections anywhere there is a democracy.
    – Robert Tausig
    23 hours ago












  • Ann Coulter has said that republican presidents would have gotten elected most/all of the time if only men were allowed to vote.
    – Andrew Grimm
    21 hours ago










  • @RobertTausig - huh? From what I've always read, women are far more likely to be religious and conservative than men, so I highly doubt they are somehow also more liberal in their voting, unless liberal women tend to vote more. Do you have any sources to back up your claim?
    – Davor
    11 hours ago








2




2




Can you support your statement "they are often fairly highly correlated"? I'm not sure what you mean exactly
– Azor Ahai
yesterday




Can you support your statement "they are often fairly highly correlated"? I'm not sure what you mean exactly
– Azor Ahai
yesterday




2




2




Any data based on actual voting assumes that men would have voted the same way if women weren't voting independently. But I can imagine many wives convincing their husbands to vote their way when they didn't have the right to vote for themselves.
– Barmar
yesterday




Any data based on actual voting assumes that men would have voted the same way if women weren't voting independently. But I can imagine many wives convincing their husbands to vote their way when they didn't have the right to vote for themselves.
– Barmar
yesterday




1




1




Women around the world significantly tend to vote more for issues like health care, familly aid, equal rights for LGBT and foreigners, free speech; things that would in the USA and Europe be considered politically "left" (Although: Keep in mind, the term alone doesn't mean anything). Men around the globe significantly lean politically "right" in this analogy. Depending from where you are from you may call this "progressive" and "conservative" instead, but the political gender split is huge; and regularly decides elections anywhere there is a democracy.
– Robert Tausig
23 hours ago






Women around the world significantly tend to vote more for issues like health care, familly aid, equal rights for LGBT and foreigners, free speech; things that would in the USA and Europe be considered politically "left" (Although: Keep in mind, the term alone doesn't mean anything). Men around the globe significantly lean politically "right" in this analogy. Depending from where you are from you may call this "progressive" and "conservative" instead, but the political gender split is huge; and regularly decides elections anywhere there is a democracy.
– Robert Tausig
23 hours ago














Ann Coulter has said that republican presidents would have gotten elected most/all of the time if only men were allowed to vote.
– Andrew Grimm
21 hours ago




Ann Coulter has said that republican presidents would have gotten elected most/all of the time if only men were allowed to vote.
– Andrew Grimm
21 hours ago












@RobertTausig - huh? From what I've always read, women are far more likely to be religious and conservative than men, so I highly doubt they are somehow also more liberal in their voting, unless liberal women tend to vote more. Do you have any sources to back up your claim?
– Davor
11 hours ago




@RobertTausig - huh? From what I've always read, women are far more likely to be religious and conservative than men, so I highly doubt they are somehow also more liberal in their voting, unless liberal women tend to vote more. Do you have any sources to back up your claim?
– Davor
11 hours ago










4 Answers
4






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
55
down vote



accepted










You're not the first person to ask this question.



It's obviously not possible to know exactly how any election would have gone in things were different, but we have enough demographic polling data to make educated guesses.



FiveThirtyEight has done extensive analyses on what voting maps would look like if only specific demographics voted. In this most recent midterm they estimated/predicted that an all male electorate would have elected a majority Republican House of Representatives.



enter image description hereenter image description here






share|improve this answer










New contributor




Arcanist Lupus is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

























    up vote
    62
    down vote













    I find this an unsatisfactory answer but perhaps it will provoke someone to make a better one along similar lines. In the 2012 US presidential election, men voted (according to exit polls) 52:45 in favour of Romney over Obama, compared with the overall result of 51:47 in favour of Obama.



    So if we assume the exit polls give a perfectly accurate indication of actual voting patterns, going from the whole electorate to just men turns Obama+4 into Romney+7, an 11-point swing. And if we assume that that translates into an 11-point swing in every state, that gets Romney at least these states listed on the Wikipedia page about the election as having <10% margins for Obama: Florida (1%; 29EV), Ohio (3%; 18EV), Virginia (4%; 13EV), Colorado (5%; 9EV), Pennsylvania (5%; 20EV), New Hampshire (6%; 4EV), Iowa (6%; 6EV), Nevada (7%; 6EV), Wisconsin (7%; 10EV), Minnesota (8%; 10EV), Maine-2 (9%; 1EV), Michigan (10%; 16EV). Since Obama won by 332:206 EV, a margin of 126 EV, transferring 64 EV from Obama to Romney would yield a Romney win. The actual total of the numbers above is 142.



    Those italicized assumptions are pretty dubious, but it seems like there's probably enough slack to make it not matter: a uniform 5.4% swing would have got Romney the states of Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado and Pennsylvania, already comfortably more than enough to win.



    To do this analysis properly we'd need state-by-state exit poll data broken down by sex (which may well exist but my very cursory search didn't find it), and estimates of how accurate exit polls are (which may also exist but I confess I haven't looked), and enough effort to put those things together properly (which, as you can see, I haven't provided) -- which is why I am not altogether satisfied by this answer. It is, however, enough to convince me pretty firmly that if women's votes had been removed from the 2012 US presidential election (while somehow changing nothing else) then Romney would have won it instead of Obama.






    share|improve this answer








    New contributor




    Gareth McCaughan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.














    • 4




      +1 just for going through all that :)
      – Orangesandlemons
      yesterday


















    up vote
    22
    down vote













    In the 1933 Spanish general election women were enfranchised by the first time, and the right won the election - while in the previous 1931 election the left had won. One of the cited causes of that victory of the right was that women were more influenced by the Church than men, so they tended to follow more their priest's advice and vote for conservative parties.



    Ironically, the enfranchisement of women that helped the right to win had been championed by the left and opposed by the right.



    Addition (source and limits of the answer):



    As the answer says, enfranchisement of women has been cited as one of the causes of the victory of the right - and that has been often repeated. However, as several comments point, how big was its contribution even whether there actually was a contribution is not clear, and even if it were it would be difficult to prove.



    Just to give a synthesis - not very different from the Wikipedia article cited in comments -, I cite Gatell, Cristina. "Dones d'ahir, dones d'avui" Barcelona, 1993. ISBN:84-7533-835-6 page 63:




    S'ha especulat molt sobre el sentit del vot femení en aquestes eleccions i la premsa d'esquerres va atribuir la victòria de les dretes al vot de les dones. Estudis posteriors han posat seriosament en dubte la vella creença del vot conservador de les dones i han demostrat que no existeix una correlació directa entre nombre de dones al cens i vots a la dreta.




    A tentative translation:




    There has been a lot of speculation about the meaning of female voting in these elections and the leftist press attributed the victory of women's right to vote. Further studies have seriously undermined the old belief in the conservative vote of women and have shown that there is no direct correlation between number of women in the census and votes on the right.




    Although the explanation of the election outcome according to female vote is plausible, it should be noted that for leftist press this explanation could be a way to save face, because any other explanation would have need to blame at some extent the leftist government. Interestingly, I also checked a book of contemporary articles of right leaning Carles Sentís and in his very short summary of the causes of the outcome, the vote of women isn't mentioned - some actions of the government are mentioned, instead.






    share|improve this answer



















    • 8




      Are there figures about how women voted, or is that a consensus impression of how the election went?
      – adam.baker
      yesterday






    • 19




      From translated spanish wikipedia: "There has been much discussion about the extent to which the triumph of the right and center-right in the elections of November 1933 was due to the vote of the women, supposedly very influenced by the Catholic Church, and the abstentionist campaign of the CNT that would have subtracted votes from the left parties. Historians have ruled out these two causes."
      – congusbongus
      yesterday






    • 3




      Ironically, the enfranchisement of women that helped the right to win had been championed by the left and opposed by the right. Can you then not argue that the right felt disenfranchised about enfranchising women and thus attracted more attention? I.e. the uptick in result is not from women but rather those who countered a left victory? Similar to how those who would write a negative review are more likely to do so than those who would write a positive review, can the same behavior not be attributed to casting clear vote by those who feel disenfranchised about the current political climate?
      – Flater
      yesterday








    • 3




      @adam.baker: Any truly democratic vote is secret, i.e. the best you can hope for are polling data and estimates.
      – DevSolar
      yesterday






    • 4




      @congusbongus "Historians have ruled out these two causes" how?
      – Orangesandlemons
      yesterday


















    up vote
    1
    down vote













    I might suggest the election of Susanna Madora Salter as mayor of Argonia, Kansas, in 1887.



    A cursory glance at the data available doesn't lead me to a 'smoking gun', but the circumstances surrounding the election -- nominated 'as a joke' and elected 'just weeks after Kansas women had gained the right to vote in city elections' -- leads me to think it could be a good candidate for further research.






    share|improve this answer








    New contributor




    Roger is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.


















      Your Answer








      StackExchange.ready(function() {
      var channelOptions = {
      tags: "".split(" "),
      id: "324"
      };
      initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

      StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
      // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
      if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
      StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
      createEditor();
      });
      }
      else {
      createEditor();
      }
      });

      function createEditor() {
      StackExchange.prepareEditor({
      heartbeatType: 'answer',
      convertImagesToLinks: false,
      noModals: true,
      showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
      reputationToPostImages: null,
      bindNavPrevention: true,
      postfix: "",
      imageUploader: {
      brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
      contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
      allowUrls: true
      },
      noCode: true, onDemand: true,
      discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
      ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
      });


      }
      });














       

      draft saved


      draft discarded


















      StackExchange.ready(
      function () {
      StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fhistory.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f49401%2fhas-womens-suffrage-ever-decided-an-election%23new-answer', 'question_page');
      }
      );

      Post as a guest















      Required, but never shown

























      4 Answers
      4






      active

      oldest

      votes








      4 Answers
      4






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

      votes






      active

      oldest

      votes








      up vote
      55
      down vote



      accepted










      You're not the first person to ask this question.



      It's obviously not possible to know exactly how any election would have gone in things were different, but we have enough demographic polling data to make educated guesses.



      FiveThirtyEight has done extensive analyses on what voting maps would look like if only specific demographics voted. In this most recent midterm they estimated/predicted that an all male electorate would have elected a majority Republican House of Representatives.



      enter image description hereenter image description here






      share|improve this answer










      New contributor




      Arcanist Lupus is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.






















        up vote
        55
        down vote



        accepted










        You're not the first person to ask this question.



        It's obviously not possible to know exactly how any election would have gone in things were different, but we have enough demographic polling data to make educated guesses.



        FiveThirtyEight has done extensive analyses on what voting maps would look like if only specific demographics voted. In this most recent midterm they estimated/predicted that an all male electorate would have elected a majority Republican House of Representatives.



        enter image description hereenter image description here






        share|improve this answer










        New contributor




        Arcanist Lupus is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.




















          up vote
          55
          down vote



          accepted







          up vote
          55
          down vote



          accepted






          You're not the first person to ask this question.



          It's obviously not possible to know exactly how any election would have gone in things were different, but we have enough demographic polling data to make educated guesses.



          FiveThirtyEight has done extensive analyses on what voting maps would look like if only specific demographics voted. In this most recent midterm they estimated/predicted that an all male electorate would have elected a majority Republican House of Representatives.



          enter image description hereenter image description here






          share|improve this answer










          New contributor




          Arcanist Lupus is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.









          You're not the first person to ask this question.



          It's obviously not possible to know exactly how any election would have gone in things were different, but we have enough demographic polling data to make educated guesses.



          FiveThirtyEight has done extensive analyses on what voting maps would look like if only specific demographics voted. In this most recent midterm they estimated/predicted that an all male electorate would have elected a majority Republican House of Representatives.



          enter image description hereenter image description here







          share|improve this answer










          New contributor




          Arcanist Lupus is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.









          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited yesterday









          divibisan

          1032




          1032






          New contributor




          Arcanist Lupus is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.









          answered yesterday









          Arcanist Lupus

          51624




          51624




          New contributor




          Arcanist Lupus is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.





          New contributor





          Arcanist Lupus is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.






          Arcanist Lupus is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.






















              up vote
              62
              down vote













              I find this an unsatisfactory answer but perhaps it will provoke someone to make a better one along similar lines. In the 2012 US presidential election, men voted (according to exit polls) 52:45 in favour of Romney over Obama, compared with the overall result of 51:47 in favour of Obama.



              So if we assume the exit polls give a perfectly accurate indication of actual voting patterns, going from the whole electorate to just men turns Obama+4 into Romney+7, an 11-point swing. And if we assume that that translates into an 11-point swing in every state, that gets Romney at least these states listed on the Wikipedia page about the election as having <10% margins for Obama: Florida (1%; 29EV), Ohio (3%; 18EV), Virginia (4%; 13EV), Colorado (5%; 9EV), Pennsylvania (5%; 20EV), New Hampshire (6%; 4EV), Iowa (6%; 6EV), Nevada (7%; 6EV), Wisconsin (7%; 10EV), Minnesota (8%; 10EV), Maine-2 (9%; 1EV), Michigan (10%; 16EV). Since Obama won by 332:206 EV, a margin of 126 EV, transferring 64 EV from Obama to Romney would yield a Romney win. The actual total of the numbers above is 142.



              Those italicized assumptions are pretty dubious, but it seems like there's probably enough slack to make it not matter: a uniform 5.4% swing would have got Romney the states of Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado and Pennsylvania, already comfortably more than enough to win.



              To do this analysis properly we'd need state-by-state exit poll data broken down by sex (which may well exist but my very cursory search didn't find it), and estimates of how accurate exit polls are (which may also exist but I confess I haven't looked), and enough effort to put those things together properly (which, as you can see, I haven't provided) -- which is why I am not altogether satisfied by this answer. It is, however, enough to convince me pretty firmly that if women's votes had been removed from the 2012 US presidential election (while somehow changing nothing else) then Romney would have won it instead of Obama.






              share|improve this answer








              New contributor




              Gareth McCaughan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
              Check out our Code of Conduct.














              • 4




                +1 just for going through all that :)
                – Orangesandlemons
                yesterday















              up vote
              62
              down vote













              I find this an unsatisfactory answer but perhaps it will provoke someone to make a better one along similar lines. In the 2012 US presidential election, men voted (according to exit polls) 52:45 in favour of Romney over Obama, compared with the overall result of 51:47 in favour of Obama.



              So if we assume the exit polls give a perfectly accurate indication of actual voting patterns, going from the whole electorate to just men turns Obama+4 into Romney+7, an 11-point swing. And if we assume that that translates into an 11-point swing in every state, that gets Romney at least these states listed on the Wikipedia page about the election as having <10% margins for Obama: Florida (1%; 29EV), Ohio (3%; 18EV), Virginia (4%; 13EV), Colorado (5%; 9EV), Pennsylvania (5%; 20EV), New Hampshire (6%; 4EV), Iowa (6%; 6EV), Nevada (7%; 6EV), Wisconsin (7%; 10EV), Minnesota (8%; 10EV), Maine-2 (9%; 1EV), Michigan (10%; 16EV). Since Obama won by 332:206 EV, a margin of 126 EV, transferring 64 EV from Obama to Romney would yield a Romney win. The actual total of the numbers above is 142.



              Those italicized assumptions are pretty dubious, but it seems like there's probably enough slack to make it not matter: a uniform 5.4% swing would have got Romney the states of Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado and Pennsylvania, already comfortably more than enough to win.



              To do this analysis properly we'd need state-by-state exit poll data broken down by sex (which may well exist but my very cursory search didn't find it), and estimates of how accurate exit polls are (which may also exist but I confess I haven't looked), and enough effort to put those things together properly (which, as you can see, I haven't provided) -- which is why I am not altogether satisfied by this answer. It is, however, enough to convince me pretty firmly that if women's votes had been removed from the 2012 US presidential election (while somehow changing nothing else) then Romney would have won it instead of Obama.






              share|improve this answer








              New contributor




              Gareth McCaughan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
              Check out our Code of Conduct.














              • 4




                +1 just for going through all that :)
                – Orangesandlemons
                yesterday













              up vote
              62
              down vote










              up vote
              62
              down vote









              I find this an unsatisfactory answer but perhaps it will provoke someone to make a better one along similar lines. In the 2012 US presidential election, men voted (according to exit polls) 52:45 in favour of Romney over Obama, compared with the overall result of 51:47 in favour of Obama.



              So if we assume the exit polls give a perfectly accurate indication of actual voting patterns, going from the whole electorate to just men turns Obama+4 into Romney+7, an 11-point swing. And if we assume that that translates into an 11-point swing in every state, that gets Romney at least these states listed on the Wikipedia page about the election as having <10% margins for Obama: Florida (1%; 29EV), Ohio (3%; 18EV), Virginia (4%; 13EV), Colorado (5%; 9EV), Pennsylvania (5%; 20EV), New Hampshire (6%; 4EV), Iowa (6%; 6EV), Nevada (7%; 6EV), Wisconsin (7%; 10EV), Minnesota (8%; 10EV), Maine-2 (9%; 1EV), Michigan (10%; 16EV). Since Obama won by 332:206 EV, a margin of 126 EV, transferring 64 EV from Obama to Romney would yield a Romney win. The actual total of the numbers above is 142.



              Those italicized assumptions are pretty dubious, but it seems like there's probably enough slack to make it not matter: a uniform 5.4% swing would have got Romney the states of Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado and Pennsylvania, already comfortably more than enough to win.



              To do this analysis properly we'd need state-by-state exit poll data broken down by sex (which may well exist but my very cursory search didn't find it), and estimates of how accurate exit polls are (which may also exist but I confess I haven't looked), and enough effort to put those things together properly (which, as you can see, I haven't provided) -- which is why I am not altogether satisfied by this answer. It is, however, enough to convince me pretty firmly that if women's votes had been removed from the 2012 US presidential election (while somehow changing nothing else) then Romney would have won it instead of Obama.






              share|improve this answer








              New contributor




              Gareth McCaughan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
              Check out our Code of Conduct.









              I find this an unsatisfactory answer but perhaps it will provoke someone to make a better one along similar lines. In the 2012 US presidential election, men voted (according to exit polls) 52:45 in favour of Romney over Obama, compared with the overall result of 51:47 in favour of Obama.



              So if we assume the exit polls give a perfectly accurate indication of actual voting patterns, going from the whole electorate to just men turns Obama+4 into Romney+7, an 11-point swing. And if we assume that that translates into an 11-point swing in every state, that gets Romney at least these states listed on the Wikipedia page about the election as having <10% margins for Obama: Florida (1%; 29EV), Ohio (3%; 18EV), Virginia (4%; 13EV), Colorado (5%; 9EV), Pennsylvania (5%; 20EV), New Hampshire (6%; 4EV), Iowa (6%; 6EV), Nevada (7%; 6EV), Wisconsin (7%; 10EV), Minnesota (8%; 10EV), Maine-2 (9%; 1EV), Michigan (10%; 16EV). Since Obama won by 332:206 EV, a margin of 126 EV, transferring 64 EV from Obama to Romney would yield a Romney win. The actual total of the numbers above is 142.



              Those italicized assumptions are pretty dubious, but it seems like there's probably enough slack to make it not matter: a uniform 5.4% swing would have got Romney the states of Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado and Pennsylvania, already comfortably more than enough to win.



              To do this analysis properly we'd need state-by-state exit poll data broken down by sex (which may well exist but my very cursory search didn't find it), and estimates of how accurate exit polls are (which may also exist but I confess I haven't looked), and enough effort to put those things together properly (which, as you can see, I haven't provided) -- which is why I am not altogether satisfied by this answer. It is, however, enough to convince me pretty firmly that if women's votes had been removed from the 2012 US presidential election (while somehow changing nothing else) then Romney would have won it instead of Obama.







              share|improve this answer








              New contributor




              Gareth McCaughan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
              Check out our Code of Conduct.









              share|improve this answer



              share|improve this answer






              New contributor




              Gareth McCaughan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
              Check out our Code of Conduct.









              answered yesterday









              Gareth McCaughan

              44114




              44114




              New contributor




              Gareth McCaughan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
              Check out our Code of Conduct.





              New contributor





              Gareth McCaughan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
              Check out our Code of Conduct.






              Gareth McCaughan is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
              Check out our Code of Conduct.








              • 4




                +1 just for going through all that :)
                – Orangesandlemons
                yesterday














              • 4




                +1 just for going through all that :)
                – Orangesandlemons
                yesterday








              4




              4




              +1 just for going through all that :)
              – Orangesandlemons
              yesterday




              +1 just for going through all that :)
              – Orangesandlemons
              yesterday










              up vote
              22
              down vote













              In the 1933 Spanish general election women were enfranchised by the first time, and the right won the election - while in the previous 1931 election the left had won. One of the cited causes of that victory of the right was that women were more influenced by the Church than men, so they tended to follow more their priest's advice and vote for conservative parties.



              Ironically, the enfranchisement of women that helped the right to win had been championed by the left and opposed by the right.



              Addition (source and limits of the answer):



              As the answer says, enfranchisement of women has been cited as one of the causes of the victory of the right - and that has been often repeated. However, as several comments point, how big was its contribution even whether there actually was a contribution is not clear, and even if it were it would be difficult to prove.



              Just to give a synthesis - not very different from the Wikipedia article cited in comments -, I cite Gatell, Cristina. "Dones d'ahir, dones d'avui" Barcelona, 1993. ISBN:84-7533-835-6 page 63:




              S'ha especulat molt sobre el sentit del vot femení en aquestes eleccions i la premsa d'esquerres va atribuir la victòria de les dretes al vot de les dones. Estudis posteriors han posat seriosament en dubte la vella creença del vot conservador de les dones i han demostrat que no existeix una correlació directa entre nombre de dones al cens i vots a la dreta.




              A tentative translation:




              There has been a lot of speculation about the meaning of female voting in these elections and the leftist press attributed the victory of women's right to vote. Further studies have seriously undermined the old belief in the conservative vote of women and have shown that there is no direct correlation between number of women in the census and votes on the right.




              Although the explanation of the election outcome according to female vote is plausible, it should be noted that for leftist press this explanation could be a way to save face, because any other explanation would have need to blame at some extent the leftist government. Interestingly, I also checked a book of contemporary articles of right leaning Carles Sentís and in his very short summary of the causes of the outcome, the vote of women isn't mentioned - some actions of the government are mentioned, instead.






              share|improve this answer



















              • 8




                Are there figures about how women voted, or is that a consensus impression of how the election went?
                – adam.baker
                yesterday






              • 19




                From translated spanish wikipedia: "There has been much discussion about the extent to which the triumph of the right and center-right in the elections of November 1933 was due to the vote of the women, supposedly very influenced by the Catholic Church, and the abstentionist campaign of the CNT that would have subtracted votes from the left parties. Historians have ruled out these two causes."
                – congusbongus
                yesterday






              • 3




                Ironically, the enfranchisement of women that helped the right to win had been championed by the left and opposed by the right. Can you then not argue that the right felt disenfranchised about enfranchising women and thus attracted more attention? I.e. the uptick in result is not from women but rather those who countered a left victory? Similar to how those who would write a negative review are more likely to do so than those who would write a positive review, can the same behavior not be attributed to casting clear vote by those who feel disenfranchised about the current political climate?
                – Flater
                yesterday








              • 3




                @adam.baker: Any truly democratic vote is secret, i.e. the best you can hope for are polling data and estimates.
                – DevSolar
                yesterday






              • 4




                @congusbongus "Historians have ruled out these two causes" how?
                – Orangesandlemons
                yesterday















              up vote
              22
              down vote













              In the 1933 Spanish general election women were enfranchised by the first time, and the right won the election - while in the previous 1931 election the left had won. One of the cited causes of that victory of the right was that women were more influenced by the Church than men, so they tended to follow more their priest's advice and vote for conservative parties.



              Ironically, the enfranchisement of women that helped the right to win had been championed by the left and opposed by the right.



              Addition (source and limits of the answer):



              As the answer says, enfranchisement of women has been cited as one of the causes of the victory of the right - and that has been often repeated. However, as several comments point, how big was its contribution even whether there actually was a contribution is not clear, and even if it were it would be difficult to prove.



              Just to give a synthesis - not very different from the Wikipedia article cited in comments -, I cite Gatell, Cristina. "Dones d'ahir, dones d'avui" Barcelona, 1993. ISBN:84-7533-835-6 page 63:




              S'ha especulat molt sobre el sentit del vot femení en aquestes eleccions i la premsa d'esquerres va atribuir la victòria de les dretes al vot de les dones. Estudis posteriors han posat seriosament en dubte la vella creença del vot conservador de les dones i han demostrat que no existeix una correlació directa entre nombre de dones al cens i vots a la dreta.




              A tentative translation:




              There has been a lot of speculation about the meaning of female voting in these elections and the leftist press attributed the victory of women's right to vote. Further studies have seriously undermined the old belief in the conservative vote of women and have shown that there is no direct correlation between number of women in the census and votes on the right.




              Although the explanation of the election outcome according to female vote is plausible, it should be noted that for leftist press this explanation could be a way to save face, because any other explanation would have need to blame at some extent the leftist government. Interestingly, I also checked a book of contemporary articles of right leaning Carles Sentís and in his very short summary of the causes of the outcome, the vote of women isn't mentioned - some actions of the government are mentioned, instead.






              share|improve this answer



















              • 8




                Are there figures about how women voted, or is that a consensus impression of how the election went?
                – adam.baker
                yesterday






              • 19




                From translated spanish wikipedia: "There has been much discussion about the extent to which the triumph of the right and center-right in the elections of November 1933 was due to the vote of the women, supposedly very influenced by the Catholic Church, and the abstentionist campaign of the CNT that would have subtracted votes from the left parties. Historians have ruled out these two causes."
                – congusbongus
                yesterday






              • 3




                Ironically, the enfranchisement of women that helped the right to win had been championed by the left and opposed by the right. Can you then not argue that the right felt disenfranchised about enfranchising women and thus attracted more attention? I.e. the uptick in result is not from women but rather those who countered a left victory? Similar to how those who would write a negative review are more likely to do so than those who would write a positive review, can the same behavior not be attributed to casting clear vote by those who feel disenfranchised about the current political climate?
                – Flater
                yesterday








              • 3




                @adam.baker: Any truly democratic vote is secret, i.e. the best you can hope for are polling data and estimates.
                – DevSolar
                yesterday






              • 4




                @congusbongus "Historians have ruled out these two causes" how?
                – Orangesandlemons
                yesterday













              up vote
              22
              down vote










              up vote
              22
              down vote









              In the 1933 Spanish general election women were enfranchised by the first time, and the right won the election - while in the previous 1931 election the left had won. One of the cited causes of that victory of the right was that women were more influenced by the Church than men, so they tended to follow more their priest's advice and vote for conservative parties.



              Ironically, the enfranchisement of women that helped the right to win had been championed by the left and opposed by the right.



              Addition (source and limits of the answer):



              As the answer says, enfranchisement of women has been cited as one of the causes of the victory of the right - and that has been often repeated. However, as several comments point, how big was its contribution even whether there actually was a contribution is not clear, and even if it were it would be difficult to prove.



              Just to give a synthesis - not very different from the Wikipedia article cited in comments -, I cite Gatell, Cristina. "Dones d'ahir, dones d'avui" Barcelona, 1993. ISBN:84-7533-835-6 page 63:




              S'ha especulat molt sobre el sentit del vot femení en aquestes eleccions i la premsa d'esquerres va atribuir la victòria de les dretes al vot de les dones. Estudis posteriors han posat seriosament en dubte la vella creença del vot conservador de les dones i han demostrat que no existeix una correlació directa entre nombre de dones al cens i vots a la dreta.




              A tentative translation:




              There has been a lot of speculation about the meaning of female voting in these elections and the leftist press attributed the victory of women's right to vote. Further studies have seriously undermined the old belief in the conservative vote of women and have shown that there is no direct correlation between number of women in the census and votes on the right.




              Although the explanation of the election outcome according to female vote is plausible, it should be noted that for leftist press this explanation could be a way to save face, because any other explanation would have need to blame at some extent the leftist government. Interestingly, I also checked a book of contemporary articles of right leaning Carles Sentís and in his very short summary of the causes of the outcome, the vote of women isn't mentioned - some actions of the government are mentioned, instead.






              share|improve this answer














              In the 1933 Spanish general election women were enfranchised by the first time, and the right won the election - while in the previous 1931 election the left had won. One of the cited causes of that victory of the right was that women were more influenced by the Church than men, so they tended to follow more their priest's advice and vote for conservative parties.



              Ironically, the enfranchisement of women that helped the right to win had been championed by the left and opposed by the right.



              Addition (source and limits of the answer):



              As the answer says, enfranchisement of women has been cited as one of the causes of the victory of the right - and that has been often repeated. However, as several comments point, how big was its contribution even whether there actually was a contribution is not clear, and even if it were it would be difficult to prove.



              Just to give a synthesis - not very different from the Wikipedia article cited in comments -, I cite Gatell, Cristina. "Dones d'ahir, dones d'avui" Barcelona, 1993. ISBN:84-7533-835-6 page 63:




              S'ha especulat molt sobre el sentit del vot femení en aquestes eleccions i la premsa d'esquerres va atribuir la victòria de les dretes al vot de les dones. Estudis posteriors han posat seriosament en dubte la vella creença del vot conservador de les dones i han demostrat que no existeix una correlació directa entre nombre de dones al cens i vots a la dreta.




              A tentative translation:




              There has been a lot of speculation about the meaning of female voting in these elections and the leftist press attributed the victory of women's right to vote. Further studies have seriously undermined the old belief in the conservative vote of women and have shown that there is no direct correlation between number of women in the census and votes on the right.




              Although the explanation of the election outcome according to female vote is plausible, it should be noted that for leftist press this explanation could be a way to save face, because any other explanation would have need to blame at some extent the leftist government. Interestingly, I also checked a book of contemporary articles of right leaning Carles Sentís and in his very short summary of the causes of the outcome, the vote of women isn't mentioned - some actions of the government are mentioned, instead.







              share|improve this answer














              share|improve this answer



              share|improve this answer








              edited 1 hour ago

























              answered 2 days ago









              Pere

              1,385513




              1,385513








              • 8




                Are there figures about how women voted, or is that a consensus impression of how the election went?
                – adam.baker
                yesterday






              • 19




                From translated spanish wikipedia: "There has been much discussion about the extent to which the triumph of the right and center-right in the elections of November 1933 was due to the vote of the women, supposedly very influenced by the Catholic Church, and the abstentionist campaign of the CNT that would have subtracted votes from the left parties. Historians have ruled out these two causes."
                – congusbongus
                yesterday






              • 3




                Ironically, the enfranchisement of women that helped the right to win had been championed by the left and opposed by the right. Can you then not argue that the right felt disenfranchised about enfranchising women and thus attracted more attention? I.e. the uptick in result is not from women but rather those who countered a left victory? Similar to how those who would write a negative review are more likely to do so than those who would write a positive review, can the same behavior not be attributed to casting clear vote by those who feel disenfranchised about the current political climate?
                – Flater
                yesterday








              • 3




                @adam.baker: Any truly democratic vote is secret, i.e. the best you can hope for are polling data and estimates.
                – DevSolar
                yesterday






              • 4




                @congusbongus "Historians have ruled out these two causes" how?
                – Orangesandlemons
                yesterday














              • 8




                Are there figures about how women voted, or is that a consensus impression of how the election went?
                – adam.baker
                yesterday






              • 19




                From translated spanish wikipedia: "There has been much discussion about the extent to which the triumph of the right and center-right in the elections of November 1933 was due to the vote of the women, supposedly very influenced by the Catholic Church, and the abstentionist campaign of the CNT that would have subtracted votes from the left parties. Historians have ruled out these two causes."
                – congusbongus
                yesterday






              • 3




                Ironically, the enfranchisement of women that helped the right to win had been championed by the left and opposed by the right. Can you then not argue that the right felt disenfranchised about enfranchising women and thus attracted more attention? I.e. the uptick in result is not from women but rather those who countered a left victory? Similar to how those who would write a negative review are more likely to do so than those who would write a positive review, can the same behavior not be attributed to casting clear vote by those who feel disenfranchised about the current political climate?
                – Flater
                yesterday








              • 3




                @adam.baker: Any truly democratic vote is secret, i.e. the best you can hope for are polling data and estimates.
                – DevSolar
                yesterday






              • 4




                @congusbongus "Historians have ruled out these two causes" how?
                – Orangesandlemons
                yesterday








              8




              8




              Are there figures about how women voted, or is that a consensus impression of how the election went?
              – adam.baker
              yesterday




              Are there figures about how women voted, or is that a consensus impression of how the election went?
              – adam.baker
              yesterday




              19




              19




              From translated spanish wikipedia: "There has been much discussion about the extent to which the triumph of the right and center-right in the elections of November 1933 was due to the vote of the women, supposedly very influenced by the Catholic Church, and the abstentionist campaign of the CNT that would have subtracted votes from the left parties. Historians have ruled out these two causes."
              – congusbongus
              yesterday




              From translated spanish wikipedia: "There has been much discussion about the extent to which the triumph of the right and center-right in the elections of November 1933 was due to the vote of the women, supposedly very influenced by the Catholic Church, and the abstentionist campaign of the CNT that would have subtracted votes from the left parties. Historians have ruled out these two causes."
              – congusbongus
              yesterday




              3




              3




              Ironically, the enfranchisement of women that helped the right to win had been championed by the left and opposed by the right. Can you then not argue that the right felt disenfranchised about enfranchising women and thus attracted more attention? I.e. the uptick in result is not from women but rather those who countered a left victory? Similar to how those who would write a negative review are more likely to do so than those who would write a positive review, can the same behavior not be attributed to casting clear vote by those who feel disenfranchised about the current political climate?
              – Flater
              yesterday






              Ironically, the enfranchisement of women that helped the right to win had been championed by the left and opposed by the right. Can you then not argue that the right felt disenfranchised about enfranchising women and thus attracted more attention? I.e. the uptick in result is not from women but rather those who countered a left victory? Similar to how those who would write a negative review are more likely to do so than those who would write a positive review, can the same behavior not be attributed to casting clear vote by those who feel disenfranchised about the current political climate?
              – Flater
              yesterday






              3




              3




              @adam.baker: Any truly democratic vote is secret, i.e. the best you can hope for are polling data and estimates.
              – DevSolar
              yesterday




              @adam.baker: Any truly democratic vote is secret, i.e. the best you can hope for are polling data and estimates.
              – DevSolar
              yesterday




              4




              4




              @congusbongus "Historians have ruled out these two causes" how?
              – Orangesandlemons
              yesterday




              @congusbongus "Historians have ruled out these two causes" how?
              – Orangesandlemons
              yesterday










              up vote
              1
              down vote













              I might suggest the election of Susanna Madora Salter as mayor of Argonia, Kansas, in 1887.



              A cursory glance at the data available doesn't lead me to a 'smoking gun', but the circumstances surrounding the election -- nominated 'as a joke' and elected 'just weeks after Kansas women had gained the right to vote in city elections' -- leads me to think it could be a good candidate for further research.






              share|improve this answer








              New contributor




              Roger is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
              Check out our Code of Conduct.






















                up vote
                1
                down vote













                I might suggest the election of Susanna Madora Salter as mayor of Argonia, Kansas, in 1887.



                A cursory glance at the data available doesn't lead me to a 'smoking gun', but the circumstances surrounding the election -- nominated 'as a joke' and elected 'just weeks after Kansas women had gained the right to vote in city elections' -- leads me to think it could be a good candidate for further research.






                share|improve this answer








                New contributor




                Roger is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.




















                  up vote
                  1
                  down vote










                  up vote
                  1
                  down vote









                  I might suggest the election of Susanna Madora Salter as mayor of Argonia, Kansas, in 1887.



                  A cursory glance at the data available doesn't lead me to a 'smoking gun', but the circumstances surrounding the election -- nominated 'as a joke' and elected 'just weeks after Kansas women had gained the right to vote in city elections' -- leads me to think it could be a good candidate for further research.






                  share|improve this answer








                  New contributor




                  Roger is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.









                  I might suggest the election of Susanna Madora Salter as mayor of Argonia, Kansas, in 1887.



                  A cursory glance at the data available doesn't lead me to a 'smoking gun', but the circumstances surrounding the election -- nominated 'as a joke' and elected 'just weeks after Kansas women had gained the right to vote in city elections' -- leads me to think it could be a good candidate for further research.







                  share|improve this answer








                  New contributor




                  Roger is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.









                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer






                  New contributor




                  Roger is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.









                  answered yesterday









                  Roger

                  1272




                  1272




                  New contributor




                  Roger is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.





                  New contributor





                  Roger is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.






                  Roger is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.






























                       

                      draft saved


                      draft discarded



















































                       


                      draft saved


                      draft discarded














                      StackExchange.ready(
                      function () {
                      StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fhistory.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f49401%2fhas-womens-suffrage-ever-decided-an-election%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                      }
                      );

                      Post as a guest















                      Required, but never shown





















































                      Required, but never shown














                      Required, but never shown












                      Required, but never shown







                      Required, but never shown

































                      Required, but never shown














                      Required, but never shown












                      Required, but never shown







                      Required, but never shown







                      Popular posts from this blog

                      サソリ

                      広島県道265号伴広島線

                      Setup Asymptote in Texstudio