Circling the Wagons: How Perceived Injustice Increases Female Bureaucrats’ Support for Female Political Leaders

Abstract Does female bureaucratic support for political leaders change over time? Existing research focuses on factors that vary across countries. Little work examines how contingent events within a context impact gender-based solidarity. Drawing collective identity theory, we argue high-profile incidents of perceived injustice against president could increase bureaucrats’ the leader. To explore this, leverage unique setting president's impeachment in South Korea to assess relationship between gender and support. Examining President Park before after impeachment, find her has gendered support, with increasing male remaining unchanged. Furthermore, mediation analysis provides suggestive evidence result operates through heightened sense injustice. Our findings suggest varies not only countries, but also shifts governments.