The slowly changing nature of the gender gap responds both to significant social changes, such as urbanization, education, the entry of women into the labor force, and democratization, as well as to concerted efforts by social movements and political leaders to broaden women's right. These factors have clearly played an important role in the Dominican Republic over this past decade, impacting the country's gender gap. We assess the nature and evolution of the Dominican Republic's gender gap over the 1994-2004 period employing data taken from four nationwide public opinion surveys in the Dominican Republic - the Demos surveys - conducted in 1994, 1997, 2001, and 2004. The analysis of these surveys indicates that elements of what has been termed a traditional gender gap remain in place in the country with regard to civic engagement, political interest, and attitudes toward democracy. At the same time, this gap disappeared with regard to voter participation in elections and a modern gender gap emerged for the first time with regard to attitudes about the role of women in politics. Age and education have consistent and substantial differential effects across the attitudinal profiles of Dominican men and women over this time period.
gender gap; political participation; democracy; Dominican Republic
