A Gendered Critique of the Two-Turnover Test as an Indicator of Democratic Consolidation

The two-turnover test has been regarded as a simple yet demanding indicator of democratic consolidation. Since its conception by Huntington in the early 1990s, it has been widely cited and debated by democracy scholars. However, despite its prominence in mainstream debates on democratic consolidation, and the recognition of women’s political inclusion as an important part of democracy, applications of the test have rarely accounted for women's political rights and inclusion. This paper offers a gendered critique of the two-turnover test as a method of assessing democratic consolidation. It argues that by excluding women's political candidacy and voting rights, the test risks measuring electoral competition solely among men, and as decided by men. This oversight suggests the need to reformulate the test to incorporate women’s political inclusion. However, a gender-inclusive interpretation of the two-turnover test reveals the limits of the “add women and stir” approach. Incorporating gender may not only alter a country’s timeline for achieving democratic consolidation but also challenge the terms of the test itself. To illustrate these arguments, the paper draws on the suffrage timelines and electoral turnovers in the UK and the US.