Strength Matters: Voter behaviours and Attitudes Towards women candidates in Papua New Guinea.

Abstract

This thesis examines voter behaviors and attitudes towards women candidates as a missing piece of the puzzle in the story of women's participation in elections in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Since self-government in 1972, only ten women have sat in the national parliament. Of 743 women candidates in national general elections, only 33 women candidates have ranked among the top five at their eliminations. Of these 33 women candidates, an important pattern can be identified in their regions of origin: 17 have come from the Southern Region, eight from Momase, six from New Guinea Islands and two from the Highlands. This regional pattern extends to those 10 women candidates who were elected: five were from the Southern Region, two each were from Momase and New Guinea Islands and one was from the Highlands. While these numbers are very low, the data show that the majority of the best performing candidates come from the Southern Region of PNG. Previous research has focused on examining the electoral experience of women candidates and the barriers that prevent them from entering parliament. Missing from these valuable analyses are investigations into why voters from certain regions of PNG are more likely to elect women candidates. I am particularly interested in why women candidates in the Southern Region poll better in national general elections in PNG than in the other regions. I investigate this question through a mixed methods research design, combining a quantitative analysis of election results with a qualitative approach to understanding indigenous cultural values and norms that inform the social and political behaviors of voters. I conduct this second element of my analysis using focus groups and interviews. The key contribution of this thesis lies in its presentation of a new measure of strength, namely the extent to which women candidates attract a number of votes above the average for the electorate. I suggest that women candidates who do not win in the National general elections can use this measure more accurately to understand their placing, and the attitudes of their electorate towards the viability of women candidates.