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The Gender Gap throughout History 5 There are several possible explanations for the development of this gap. The women’s movement of the 1970s had highlighted issues and positions distinct from the concerns and positions of men. For example, legal abor- tion, equal pay, and the Equal Rights Amendment were important issues for feminists. Women were also working outside the home in increasing numbers, which gave them a new perspective on politics and the issues that mattered to them. Furthermore, Ronald Reagan’s conservative pos- itions on issues like the Equal Rights Amendment and abortion pushed women toward Jimmy Carter.8 Traditional women’s issues were not the only driving force in wom- en’s support for Carter. Women disapproved of Reagan’s foreign policy and feared that his presidency would increase the risk of war.9 Reagan did win the election, but his win was due to male voters. Females were relatively equally split in their support with 46 percent voting for Reagan and 45 percent for Carter. Independent candidate John Anderson drew the remaining votes.10 After the 1980 election, women’s organizations took the opportunity to draw attention to women’s issues. With a clear gap emerging and an increase in the number and proportion of women voting, organizations like the National Organization for Women promoted the gender gap as something politicians must pay attention to if they hoped to win elec- tions. While some argued at the time that the 1980 gender gap was a fluke, it was clear by the end of the 1980s that the gap was real and persis- tent. The 1984 and 1988 elections produced a gender gap of six and seven points respectively (see Table 1.1). In both cases, a slight majority of women still voted for the winning Republican candidate, but the difference in vote choice was much smaller among women than men. In 1984, Ronald Reagan knew he had a problem with women voters and attempted to attract them by announc- ing that he would name a woman to the Supreme Court, launching his Fifty State Project examining discriminatory laws at the state level, and emphasizing policies that would help women in business.11 Ultimately Reagan won the 1984 election with a slightly smaller gender gap than in 1980. THE GAP IN PARTY IDENTIFICATION The gender gap in presidential vote choice since 1980 is clearly illustrated in Table 1.1. From 1980 to 2016, the average gender gap was 8.1 points. The lowest gap was in 1992, in the three-way race between Democrat Bill Clinton, Republican George H. W. Bush, and Independent Ross Perot. The largest gap of 11 points was seen four years later in 1996,