Running head: GENDER AND PUBLIC OPINION IN POLITICS 1

Media Coverage and Public Opinion in Political Campaigns:

Why Hillary Clinton Never Broke the Glass Ceiling

Debbie Kim and Sarah Miller

Wheaton College
GENDER AND PUBLIC OPINION IN POLITICS 2

Variables

Female Political Candidates and Gender Bias (Finch, 2010; Hoyt, 2010; Lee & Lim, 2016;

Richards, 2016)

Finch (2010) surveyed peoples level of agreement on the statement, Men are better

qualified as political leaders than women, finding that 8% of female respondents and 25% of

males respondents agreed with the statement. After factoring in item response theory, the results

indicated that, even when males and females overall views toward women in society are held

constant, males are much more likely believe men are better qualified political leaders. Hoyt

(2010) explores how gendered stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination contribute to the under-

representation of women in elite leadership roles. This source will be helpful in identifying

specific gender biases. Lee and Lim (2016) use content analysis to show how female political

candidates such as Hillary Clinton emphasize their masculine characteristics on social media,

presumably to appeal to an audience that favors traditional male leaders over female ones.

Richards (2016) explains why the appeal of a masculine leader is so deeply entrenched in

American politics, and how female candidates must assume iron-lady identities in order to be

accepted as strong and competent leaders. This source will be helpful in identifying the roots of

gender biases in American politics.

H1: The American public perceives male candidates as more competent and better quality

political leaders than female candidates.

GENDER AND PUBLIC OPINION IN POLITICS 3

Correlation Between Media Coverage and Public Opinion (Genovese & Steckenrider,

2013; Parry-Giles, 2014; Uscinski & Goren, 2011; Carlin & Winfrey, 2009; Miller & Peake,

2013; Burrell, Elder, & Frederick, 2011)

In an analysis conducted by Carlin & Winfrey (2009), studies revealed that women in the

2008 election were negatively covered by the media and led the public to doubt their capabilities

in politics. More specifically, research on Sarah Palins role in politics was intensely studied,

leading to believe that women as a whole are criticized harshly in a political sphere (Miller &

Peake, 2013). This leads to evaluating Hillary specifically. The media has heavily portrayed

Hillarys nontraditional role as first lady and how that led to divisive impressions of her as a

female (Burrell, Elder, & Frederick, 2011). Furthermore, Parry-Giles discuss how Hillarys

public opinion was biased from the start of her public career, due to perceptions of inauthentic

womanhood for acting outside the bounds of her gender with her active and aggressive

involvement in politics. The media also neglected to view her professionally by referring to her

as Hillary, rather than Clinton, as is the case for her male counterparts (Uscinski & Goren,

2011). This study seeks to affirm the idea of Agenda Setting Theory, that the media tells us what

to think, how to think about it, and ultimately affects behavior.

H2: Media coverage is gender biased, and has affected public perception of Hillary

Clinton, in turn, affecting real-life election results.

GENDER AND PUBLIC OPINION IN POLITICS 4

Method

Survey Questions

Female Political Candidates and Gender Bias

We can measure individuals opinion on the competency and quality of political

candidates in relation to their gender, as well as the role of women in political leadership.

We can ask respondents to rate their level of agreement with the following statements:

1) Women should run for political office. 2) Women should stay out of politics. 3) Men

are better qualified as political leaders. We can rate the level of agreement on a five-point

scale: Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree, and Dont Know. (Finch,

2010)

Correlation Between Media Coverage and Public Opinion

We are still in need of specific survey questions to help us measure public opinion

of Hillary Clinton in relation to media coverage. We want to measure the publics

perception of Hillarys reliability, trustworthiness, competency, and qualifications. We

also want to compare this against media coverage and consumption, perhaps asking

questions about how people reached their conclusions about Hillary and what media

sources they go to for political coverage. Public opinion polls on other women in elected

office or running political campaigns could be useful in forming questions specific to

Hillary Clinton.
GENDER AND PUBLIC OPINION IN POLITICS 5

Interview Questions

Correlation Between Media Coverage and Public Opinion

Interview questions will be especially helpful in understanding how people have

reached their opinions and views of Hillary Clinton, and especially how those views have

been affected by media coverage throughout her time in public office. This will be a

largely interpretive task, as we will need to make our own inferences about the

relationship between the media and its effect on Hillarys public persona. We expect to

ask questions like: How has your opinion of Hillary Clinton evolved since the 2008

presidential race? How did Hillary Clintons role as the First Lady affect your current

perception of her? How do you think your news sources affect your opinion? How do you

think Hillary Clinton is portrayed in the media, and do you think it is an accurate

depiction?
GENDER AND PUBLIC OPINION IN POLITICS 6

References

Burrell, B., Elder, L., & Frederick, B. (2011). Polls and elections: From Hillary to Michelle:

Public opinion and the spouses of presidential candidates. Presidential Studies Quarterly,

41(1), 156-176. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-5705.2010.03835.x

Carlin, B., & Winfrey, L. (2009). Have you come a long way, baby? Hillary Clinton, Sarah

Palin, and sexism in 2008 campaign coverage. Communication Studies, 60(4), 326343.

doi: 10.1080/10510970903109904

Finch, H. (2010). Using item response theory to understand gender differences in opinions on

women in politics. Chance, 23(2), 19-24. doi: 10.1007/s00144-010-0018-x

Hoyt, C. L. (2010), Women, men, and leadership: Exploring the gender gap at the top. Social

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9004.2010.00274.x

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Lee, J., & Lim, Y. (2016). Gendered campaign tweets: The cases of Hillary Clinton and Donald

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Miller, M. K., & Peake, J. S. (October 01, 2013). Press effects, public opinion, and gender:

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Patterson, T. (2010). Hillary Clinton's race for the White House: Gender politics &
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