Sacrificial lambs, women candidates, and district competitiveness in Canada

Women's continued political underrepresentation suggests that women candidates might be more likely than men to be ‘sacrificial lambs’ – that is, more likely than men to serve as party standard bearers in districts where their party has little chance to win. Using data from the 2004–2011 Canadian federal elections, we find support for the sacrificial lamb hypothesis when district competitiveness is measured dynamically, rather than statically. Our dynamic measurement of district competitiveness further shows that women incumbents' seats are not as safe as are men's. We conclude that these two factors help to explain why women remain underrepresented in Canadian federal politics.

► Women's descriptive representation in Canada is suppressed because women candidates are sacrificial lambs.
► The relationship between district competitiveness and candidate gender holds for every federal party except the Bloc Québécois.
► A dynamic measure of party support is preferable to a static measure.