Advocates of gender quotas emphasize their transformative potential for women’s political participation. Yet evidence on the symbolic effects of quotas remains inconclusive, with some studies uncovering significant backlash after implementation. Although elite resistance to quotas has been posited as an explanation, the underlying mechanisms generating negative effects remain underexplored. This study proposes the utilization of “moral panic” by elites as a mechanism of resistance. By leveraging their media influence and employing conservative moral rhetoric, elites engineer moral panic, framing women’s political engagement as detrimental to social order and gender hierarchies. Such panic aims to incite public opposition and rationalize elite resistance to progressive changes. Notably, this tactic is more prevalent in countries with reserved-seat quotas, where elites possess limited control over electoral outcomes. Using an original dataset encompassing politician names and genders, I analyze over 150,000 news articles from 2000 to 2021 across 10 sub-Saharan African countries. The findings indicate that quota-induced gains in women’s representation are followed by significant increases in conservative ethical language in news coverage of women politicians, particularly in countries with reserved-seat quotas. These findings bear important implications for gender equality in politics and shed light on the dynamics of backlash after quota implementation.

中文翻译：

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配额后的强烈反对：道德恐慌作为对女性政治家的软镇压策略

性别配额的倡导者强调其对妇女政治参与的变革潜力。然而，有关配额象征性影响的证据仍无定论，一些研究发现配额实施后出现了明显的反弹。尽管精英阶层对配额的抵制被认为是一种解释，但产生负面影响的根本机制仍未得到充分探索。这项研究提出精英利用“道德恐慌”作为抵抗机制。通过利用媒体影响力和保守的道德言论，精英们制造了道德恐慌，将女性的政治参与定性为不利于社会秩序和性别等级制度。这种恐慌旨在煽动公众反对，并使精英阶层对进步变革的抵制合理化。值得注意的是，这种策略在有保留席位配额的国家更为普遍，这些国家的精英对选举结果的控制有限。我使用包含政治家姓名和性别的原始数据集，分析了 2000 年至 2021 年 10 个撒哈拉以南非洲国家的超过 150,000 篇新闻文章。研究结果表明，配额带来的女性代表性的提高伴随着女性政治家新闻报道中保守道德语言的显着增加，特别是在保留席位配额的国家。这些发现对政治中的性别平等具有重要影响，并揭示了配额实施后的强烈反对动态。