The polls also show that women are more dissatisfied with politics and politicians than men. Seventy-six percent of women said that politics is "disgusting" compared to 67 percent of men, and 55 percent of women said politicians do not deserve respect compared to 51 percent of men.

Jane J. Mansbridge, Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values at the Kennedy School of Government, said the media's representation of the campaign as a "race" may account for women's lower rates of daily participation despite their belief in politics' importance.

"It's possible that women are interested in politics less as a sports event, what is sometimes called a 'horserace,' than men," said Mansbridge, who added that she was simply speculating about causes for the gender gap.

Mansbridge also said that if campaign involvement were defined in terms of campaign contributions and voter turnout, men and women would be equally involved in politics.

Last week's poll is one of a yearlong series conducted by the Shorenstein Center that began in November. The polls are part of the center's Vanishing Voter project, an attempt to track voter involvement with the campaign in hopes of providing research-based proposals for reforming the presidential election process.

The polls surveyed 1,000 randomly selected respondents via telephone.