Policy Research

Gender Difference or Parallel Publics? The Dynamics of Defense Spending Opinions in the United States, 1965 to 2007

Richard Eichenberg, Richard Stoll

Summary

The article attempts to estimate the gender gap in opinions on defense spending in the United States. The study employs a time series analysis using survey data dating back to 1963 and finds that men consistently prefer increases in defense spending to women. However, the study also finds that the “gender gap” in preference stays relatively consistent. This implies that events that increase men’s support of defense spending will have nearly identical effects on women. The article also notes that women tend to prefer social spending to defense spending, so if increases in defense spending are posed as alternatives to social spending their effect could be more dramatic than if coming from an unspecified source. Further, the study found that certain events could shift the overall size of the gap which implies that the gap is not simply caused by inherent genetic differences.

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Policy Implications

This article can be used in trying to understand the differences in support of policies, specifically defense policies, between men and women. Previous literature has suggested that news events could sway men and women’s opinions differently but the article suggests that this does not seem to be accurate. This can be useful in trying to frame news in a way that increases support. Further, the article suggests that opinions on other types of policy likely parallel each other in similar manners.