Resumen de Women’s Preferences for Social Spending: Theory and Evidence from Spanish Political Representatives

Ascensión Andina-Díaz, Paula Penalva Planelles, María Socorro Puy Segura

• We analyze whether political representatives have gendered preferences for social policies. We explore interview responses of one third of the Spanish legislators during the IX Spanish Legislature (2008- 2011). The data reveal that gender differences arise in the national chambers and within the right-wing party, where female representatives report a stronger preference for social spending on pensions and education. There are no significant gender differences within left-wing representatives or among regional representatives. From a theoretical perspective, we study how differences in gender preferences may affect both the gender identity of the parties’ candidates and the parties’ policy platforms.