“In those countries where the suffrage is said to be universal, exceptions exist, that arise from the necessity of things, or from that controlling policy which can never safely be lost sight of in the management of human affairs. The interests of women being thought to be so identified with those of their male relatives as to become, in a great degree, inseparable, females are, almost generally, excluded from the possession of political rights. There can be no doubt that society is greatly the gainer, by thus excluding one half its members, and the half that is best adapted to give a tone to domestic happiness, from the stripe of parties and the fierce struggles of political controversies.”
James Fenimore Cooper
American Democratic Leveling
There was a time when men believed that they were protecting their female relatives by not allowing them to get in the dirt and grime of political turmoil. Our change in this regard owes much to the idea that women are just as good at being men as men are at being men. And so women vote just like men. Women candidate just like men. Women get down in the political gutter in order to advance their political careers just like men. What we have given up, if Cooper was correct, is a large share of our domestic happiness.
One result of allowing women to vote has been the tendency of women to vote for parties and candidates that promise to use the government as a mechanism to provide. If you look at women voting patterns you will see that among all women (52% of the population) the Democratic party has enjoyed a typical (though not constant) advantage of 5-8% in presidential elections. It is the natural instinct of a woman to want to be provided for and taken care of and so naturally they tend to, as a whole, vote for statist candidates.
Ironically enough, when the government takes on the role of provider, a situation is created where men are not needed as much in the home to provide. When the government becomes the provider of the family the role of the husband is undercut and his place within the family becomes far more tenuous. Familial coventantal unity is attacked also by the reality that in many homes the votes of husbands and wives in elections cancel each other out. The interests of women are no longer identified with their male relatives.
What woman’s suffrage has introduced is a conflict of interests between men and women.
