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Votes For Women: An Economic Perspective on Women’s Enfranchisement

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  • Carolyn Moehling
  • Melissa A. Thomasson

Abstract

The ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 officially granted voting rights to women across the United States. However, many states extended full or partial suffrage to women before the federal amendment. In this paper, we discuss the history of women's enfranchisement using an economic lens. We examine the demand-side, discussing the rise of the women's movement and its alliances with other social movements, and describe how suffragists put pressure on legislators. On the supply side, we draw from theoretical models of suffrage extension to explain why men shared the right to vote with women. Finally, we review empirical studies that attempt to distinguish between competing explanations. We find that no single theory can explain women's suffrage in the US, and note that while the Nineteenth Amendment extended the franchise to women, state-level barriers to voting limited the ability of black women to exercise that right until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Suggested Citation

  • Carolyn Moehling & Melissa A. Thomasson, 2020. "Votes For Women: An Economic Perspective on Women’s Enfranchisement," NBER Working Papers 26781, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26781
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rick Geddes & Dean Lueck, 2002. "The Gains From Self-Ownership and the Expansion of Women's Rights," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 1079-1092, September.
    2. McDonagh, Eileen L. & Price, H. Douglas, 1985. "Woman Suffrage in the Progressive Era: Patterns of Opposition and Support in Referenda Voting, 1910-1918," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 79(2), pages 415-435, June.
    3. Moehling, Carolyn M. & Thomasson, Melissa A., 2012. "The Political Economy of Saving Mothers and Babies: The Politics of State Participation in the Sheppard-Towner Program," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 72(1), pages 75-103, March.
    4. Braun, Sebastian & Kvasnicka, Michael, 2013. "Men, women, and the ballot: Gender imbalances and suffrage extensions in the United States," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 405-426.
    5. Alessandro Lizzeri & Nicola Persico, 2004. "Why did the Elites Extend the Suffrage? Democracy and the Scope of Government, with an Application to Britain's "Age of Reform"," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 119(2), pages 707-765.
    6. Khan, B. Zorina, 1996. "Married Women's Property Laws and Female Commercial Activity: Evidence from United States Patent Records, 1790–1895," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(2), pages 356-388, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Stahl, Jörg R., 2023. "Changes in the electorate and firm values: Evidence from the introduction of female suffrage in Switzerland," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 386-402.
    2. Hiller, Victor & Touré, Nouhoum, 2021. "Endogenous gender power: The two facets of empowerment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    3. Scott A. Carson, 2020. "Nineteenth through early 20th Century Female and Male Statures within the Household," CESifo Working Paper Series 8616, CESifo.
    4. Eiji Yamamura, 2021. "Female teachers effect on male pupils' voting behavior and preference formation," Papers 2101.08487, arXiv.org.
    5. Scott Alan Carson, 2023. "Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Social Feminism and Women’s Suffrage: A Female–Male Net Nutrition Comparison using Differences- in-decompositions," Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, , vol. 35(2), pages 191-215, July.
    6. Scott A. Carson, 2021. "The Changing Antebellum Period through Early 20th Century Net Nutrition between Male and Females: A Difference-In-Decompositions within and across Group Comparison," CESifo Working Paper Series 9402, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N11 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • N12 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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