• Women are more concerned than men about the openness and honesty of the 2024 elections. There’s not a lot of trust that the 2024 elections will be both honest and open to all who are eligible to vote. When you break it down by party, just 35% of Republicans think the elections will be both honest and open; in contrast, 50% of Democrats are confident on both counts. Not surprising: Republicans are more concerned about the honesty of the elections, whereas Democrats have concerns that the elections won’t be open to everyone entitled to vote. Surprising: Women across all political spectrums have less trust the elections will be both honest and open (32%) than men (42%). While it’s hard to pinpoint why women have less trust — perhaps they’re more concerned about fairness and that marginalized individuals and communities will be left out, or they might have a distaste for the process after the unpleasant aftermath of the 2020 elections — it’s important to note that women make up a larger voting bloc than men, making this a trend worth watching.
• Women value the common good more than individual rights. A new question in this year’s Pulse survey examined how Americans value individual rights and support for the common good (government-funded programs designed to benefit society such as clean air and water, food safety, Social Security and civil rights programs, among others). When asked to choose which they value more, 47% of the public said they value both equally, 20% said they value individual rights more and 19% said they value support for the common good more. The survey found that Donald Trump voters were more likely to put a higher value on individual rights while Joe Biden voters were more likely to value the common good. But some of the most surprising differences in priorities were between men and women. The subgroup that most valued individual rights over the common good was Republican men (32% valuing individual rights), but only 20% of Republican women agreed with this assessment. Among Democrats, 22% of men valued individual rights more, compared with just 12% of Democratic women. In fact, across every group of voters, men consistently valued individual rights more than women did.

If, like me, you value the fact that most democracies inherently embrace the common good, this last finding gives credence to the argument that the world would be better if it were run by women. But you may not want to take my word for it. I am, after all, a bit biased!