Jan Menzner et al. received the 1st prize of the Fritz Thyssen Foundation for their article 'The Potential of Open Lists for the Election of Women to the German Bundestag. Results of a Survey Experiment'
Using a conjoint survey experiment, the paper demonstrates the potential of open party lists for the election of women to the Bundestag. Results suggest that left-leaning voters generally prefer female candidates, while (fe)male Union-voters prefer candidates from their own sex. Importantly, voters overall tend to balance out election lists that are dominated by candidates of either sex. In summary, open lists enable female voters, citizens who „care about equality“ and leftist voters to factor sex into their voting decision, but they are no sure fix for unequal representation.
The prize awarded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation is the only journal prize in the social sciences outside the English-speaking world.
Many congratulations!