Despite progress on gender equity in US politics, female journalists and candidates do little to diversify debate agendas

Electoral debates can greatly influence the issue priorities of the public through the media’s agenda-setting function; however, debates have not always reflected the issue priorities of the public. As more women seek public office, little is known about gender’s role in shaping debate agendas. In new research examining questions from US presidential debates, Jason Turcotte and Newly Paul find that although female voters participating in debates refocus the agenda toward issues of greater consequence to women, female candidates and journalists fail to increase the emphasis on women’s issues. The implications of this mean that women’s issues are often muted in debates, and the presence of female candidates and journalists does little to foster greater diversity in issue focus.