Does Sex Make a Difference? a Case Study of Women in Politics

Gender Justice or Just Gender? The Role of Gender in Sexual Assault Decisions at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia*

“…Evidence is mixed on the relationship between gender and policy outcomes-conclusions vary depending on the policymaker's role and domain, and most work emphasizes domestic institutions. For elected officials and constituency support, some studies confirm disparities (Fowlkes, Perkins, and Rinehart, 1979;Mezey, 1978), while others do not (Bers, 1978). Most work assumes that women see themselves as ''uniquely qualified,'' and some have questioned if gender is a political or biological variable (Reingold, 1992).…”

Change and Continuity in the Relationship Between Private Responsibilities and Public Officeholding: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

“…However, since the range of gendered life experiences cannot fully be brought to bear on the public policy debate unless women as well as men are at the table, gendered private sphere roles create a paradox: While they may mean that women bring differ^t concems to the table, and as such make descriptive representation critical to the substantive representation of women, women's traditional roles as caregivers long have been considered obstacles to improved descriptive representation, for they seem to discourage women more than men from seeking public office (Carroll, 1989;Diamond, 1977;Dubeck, 1976;Kirkpatrick, 1974;Lee, 1976;Mandel, 1983;Mezey, 1978;Nechemias, 1985;Sapiro, 1982;Sapiro & Farah, 1980).^ This article confrt>nts the paradox by exploring change and stability in the relative compatibility of women's and men's private responsibilities with their public roles as officeholders, and what these trends may mean for progress toward increased descriptive representation. The analysis focuses primarily on state legislators, for they serve in institutions that deal with important matters of public policy, where women's gains provided adequate numbo^ for study in the earlier time periods, and which have served as stepping-stones to more visible and prestigious offices such as govemor and United States Congress.…”

Gender, Feminism, and Partisanship among Women's PAC Contributors

“…Earlier studies often found no gender gap in political attitudes among party elites and elected officials (Kirkpatrick, 1974(Kirkpatrick, , 1976Mezey, 1978;Jennings and Farah, 1981). By the late 1980s, however, women politicians and activists were found quite consistently more liberal than their male counterparts on a wide variety of issues ranging from social welfare and government regulation to defense, crime and punishment, and women's rights.…”