• Seiki Tanaka An assistant professor of international relations at the Department of International Relations and International Organization, University of Groningen

• Rieko Kage Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the University of Tokyo

Do voters in advanced democracies evaluate women politicians more critically than men counterparts? Some scholars find that women politicians have to endure more scrutiny with regards to their qualifications than their male counterparts and are punished more harshly in case of scandals. Yet, a growing body of the literature also suggests that women and men politicians are equally evaluated and, in some cases, women politicians are viewed even more positively than men. We argue that the mixed findings are in part due to the existence of competitive mechanisms through which gendered stereotypes affect the evaluations of women politicians. We examine the argument by using a survey experiment in Japan.

Seiki Tanaka is an assistant professor of international relations at the Department of International Relations and International Organization (IRIO), University of Groningen. His research interest lies in exploring and researching the processes and mechanisms underlying social conflicts and cooperation. In particular, he examines the microfoundations of social diversity and conflicts and how different groups of people can co-exist within a society in an era of globalization and technological advancement.