Different and Unequal?

Examining participation across diverse activities, individual-level explanations, patterns over time, and cross-national differences, this Element analyses gender patterns in participation. It considers a diverse range of activities over ten rounds (2002-2020) of the European Social Survey (ESS) across twenty-six European democracies. It finds strong evidence for a gender differentiation model of political participation - women participate as much or more than men in many areas, such as signing petitions, boycotting, and voting. In contrast, men contact politicians and work for parties more than women. Yet, if women held the same level of political interest as men, differences would shrink, with women demonstrating and posting online as much as men. Gender differences do not vary over time, but context matters, and women in European democracies with greater national levels of gender equality participate significantly more than in less gender-equal nations. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.