From Ambition to Action: Political Networking as a Pathway for Women Candidates
Interventions to enhance the supply of women electoral candidates often focus on internal barriers, assuming that women’s underrepresentation is primarily driven by low personal motivation, skills, or confidence. However, in many contexts, external barriers — such as exclusion from political networks — pose a more significant challenge. In such settings, programs that address only internal barriers may raise aspirations without translating into actual candidacies. To be effective, interventions must also tackle critical external obstacles. We test this argument through a novel intervention introducing women to influential male-dominated political networks ahead of Zambia’s 2026 local elections. Our pre-registered report specifies our theory, the research design, the implementation of our field experiment, and preliminary results on the mechanisms connecting treatments to outcomes. We compare the impacts of standard candidate training with an approach that integrates training and structured networking events. Outcomes are assessed through panel surveys measuring willingness to run and through observed efforts to get on the ballot.
Accepted in principle, American Political Science Review, 2025.
Citation
@article{k._ofosu2025,
author = {K. Ofosu, George and Bech Seeberg, Merete and Wahman,
Michael},
title = {From {Ambition} to {Action:} {Political} {Networking} as a
{Pathway} for {Women} {Candidates}},
journal = {American Political Science Review},
date = {2025-09-01},
url = {https://georgeofosu.com/publications/working-papers/2025-ambition-to-action.html},
langid = {en},
abstract = {Interventions to enhance the supply of women electoral
candidates often focus on *internal barriers*, assuming that women’s
underrepresentation is primarily driven by low personal motivation,
skills, or confidence. However, in many contexts, *external
barriers* — such as exclusion from political networks — pose a more
significant challenge. In such settings, programs that address only
internal barriers may raise aspirations without translating into
actual candidacies. To be effective, interventions must also tackle
critical external obstacles. We test this argument through a novel
intervention introducing women to influential male-dominated
political networks ahead of Zambia’s 2026 local elections. Our
pre-registered report specifies our theory, the research design, the
implementation of our field experiment, and preliminary results on
the mechanisms connecting treatments to outcomes. We compare the
impacts of standard candidate training with an approach that
integrates training and structured networking events. Outcomes are
assessed through panel surveys measuring willingness to run and
through observed efforts to get on the ballot.}
}