Necessary or Optional? Gender and Coalition Strategies in French Municipal Elections

This paper studies whether the gender of political leaders affects coalition strategies in electoral settings. I use French municipal elections, where institutional rules determine if coalitions are necessary or optional to enter the second round. I compare strategic choices of women and men list leaders, controlling for electoral strength, political orientation and local characteristics. The results show that women leaders are more likely to form coalitions when merging is required, but tend to avoid coalitions when they are optional. These differences have implications for the characteristics of the coalitions formed, as well as for access to seats on municipal councils.