Gender Differences in Legislator Responsiveness

Abstract

A growing body of research shows that women legislators outperform their male counterparts in the legislative arena, but scholars have yet to examine whether this pattern emerges in non-policy aspects of representation. We conducted an audit study of 6,000 U.S. state legislators to analyze whether women outperform or underperform men on constituency service in light of the extra effort they spend on policy. We find that women are more likely to respond to constituent requests than men, even after accounting for their heightened level of policy activity. Female legislators are the most responsive in conservative districts, where women may see the barriers to their election as especially high. We then demonstrate that our findings are not a function of staff responsiveness, legislator ideology, or responsiveness to female constituents or gender issues. The results provide additional evidence that women perform better than their male counterparts across a range of representational activities.

Can We Reduce Deception in Elite Field Experiments? Evidence from a Field Experiment with State Legislative Offices

“…While this is a valid criticism, research shows that these behavioral outcomes do reflect subjects’ broader preferences (Fehr and Leibbrandt 2011; Glaeser et al 2000; Karlan 2005). The value of the contemporary elite correspondence audit study is that it correlates with legislative behavior beyond just constituency service, such as roll-call voting (Mendez and Grose 2018) and co-sponsorship activity (Thomsen and Sanders 2019). The value of Butler and Broockman (2011), and those audits that have followed, is that they suggest that discrimination is present in the overall representation process and not simply in constituency service.…”

Democratic Party Control Reduces Gender Inequality

“…Another looks at the factors that shape female representation itself (Bauer and Carpinella 2017; Dolan 2004, 2014; Huddy 1994; Lawless and Fox 2005; Teele et al 2018). And yet another examines the link between gender and party choice (Chaney et al 1998; McDermott 1997; Ondercin 2017; Sanbonmatsu and Dolan 2009; Thomsen 2019). But these studies haven't tried to connect the political process directly to economic well‐being by gender 1…”

“…There is clear evidence of an increasingly strong relationship between gender and party leadership. More and more women are being elected as Democrats, while the number of female Republican legislators is staying relatively stagnant or in some cases even decreasing (Thomsen 2015, 2019). In Congress, for example, as late as the 1980s the number of Democratic and Republican female representatives was roughly even.…”

“…We then shift the focus to female representation. We know that female representation is growing disproportionately on the Democratic side and that female legislators now represent a substantial share of Democratic legislators (Thomsen 2015, 2019). We also know that having women in office does matter for a range of outcomes and that, in particular, female legislators—especially those who are on the Democratic side—tend to focus more on women's issues and to work harder to push those policies to the left (Clayton and Zetterberg 2018; Dolan 1997; Gerrity et al 2007; Holman 2014; Osborn 2012; Osborn et al 2019; Reingold and Smith 2011; Swers 2002, 2013).…”

Women Want an Answer! Field Experiments on Elected Officials and Gender Bias

“…This could happen if female legislators showed greater responsiveness to women. We know that female legislators exhibit higher responsiveness in general (Thomsen and Sanders 2019). And we also know that minority legislators often care about advancing the interests of their own group, which helps explain the connection between descriptive and substantive representation (Burden 2007).…”