Bar charts showing most women and Democrats say there are too few women in high political offices in the U.S. today

A narrow majority of U.S. adults (53%) say there are too few women in high political offices in the United States today. Some 37% say there are about the right number of women and 8% say there are too many women elected to higher offices.

The share saying there are too few women in high political offices is down from 59% since we last asked this question in 2018.

Views on this differ widely by gender and political affiliation. And there are also differences between Democratic men and women and between Republican men and women.

By gender

Most women (63%) say there are too few women in high political offices. Three-in-ten say there are about the right number of women and just 5% say there are too many.

Views are more divided among men: 42% say there are too few women and 46% say there are about the right number. About one-in-ten men (11%) say there are too many women in high political offices.

By partisanship

Three-quarters of Democrats and Democratic leaners say there are too few women in high political offices today. A much smaller share of Republicans and Republican leaners (29%) say the same. A majority of Republicans (56%) say there are about the right number of women in these offices.

Republican women are about twice as likely as Republican men to say there are too few women in high political offices (40% vs. 19%). Republican men are about as likely to say there are too few women in these elected offices as they are to say there are too many.

About six-in-ten Republican men (62%) say there are about the right number of women in high political offices, compared with 51% of Republican women.

Majorities of Democratic men and women say there are too few women in high political offices. But Democratic women (82%) are more likely than Democratic men (67%) to say this.

The ideal number of women and men in high elected positions

Bar chart showing about 1 in 5 Democrats who say there are too few women in high elected offices would prefer more women than men in these positions

Most people (77%) who say there are too few women in high political offices say it would be ideal to have about an equal number of men and women in these offices. About one-in-ten (9%) say it would be ideal if there were more women than there are now but still not as many women as men. And 13% say it would be ideal to have more women than men in these positions.

Majorities of Democrats and Republicans who say there are too few women in high elected offices say it would be ideal for there to be about an equal number of men and women. Still, there are some differences in these views by party. Among those who say there are too few women in these offices:

  • 18% of Democrats – but just 4% of Republicans – say it would be ideal for there to be more women than men in high political offices.
  • Republicans (15%) are about twice as likely as Democrats (7%) to say it would be ideal to have more women in high political offices than there are now, but still not as many women as men.

Will there ever be as many women as men in high political offices?

Bar chart showing about half of U.S. adults think there will eventually be as many women as men in high political offices

Looking ahead, about half of Americans (52%) say that, as more women run for office, it is only a matter of time before there are as many women as men in high political offices. A smaller but sizeable share (46%) say men will continue to hold more high political offices in the future. These views are unchanged from five years ago.

By gender

A majority of men (58%) say it’s only a matter of time before there are as many women as men in high political offices. A smaller share of women (46%) say the same, while 51% say men will continue to hold more of these positions, even as more women run for office.

By partisanship

More than half of Republicans (54%) say it’s only a matter of time before there are as many women as men in high elected offices. Democrats are more divided: 51% agree, while 48% say men will continue to hold more high political offices in the future.

Majorities of Republican and Democratic men (59% and 57%, respectively) say there will eventually be as many women as men in high political offices. Republican women are about evenly divided, while Democratic women are somewhat more likely to say men will continue to hold more of these offices (53%) than to say it’s only a matter of time before there are as many women as men in these positions (45%).