Party elites and beauty biases: Candidate attractiveness and list placement

Abstract

To what extent does physical attractiveness affect the placement of candidates on party lists in proportional representation systems? Studies show that good-looking politicians fare better electorally than their less attractive peers. Research suggests that this is because voters use physical appearance as a heuristic. In proportional list systems, however, who wins office is conditional on where party leaders place them on the party list. In this paper, we argue that physically attractive candidates fare better in proportional list systems than their less attractive co-partisans because party elites place them in preferable list positions. Drawing on data from Ecuador’s 2019 municipal elections, where ballots featured photos of candidates, we show that physically attractive candidates are placed higher on party lists and therefore have an electoral advantage. Our finding suggests that physical attractiveness can be an important determinant of electoral success even when voters do not cast preference votes.