The Missing Fingerprints: U.S. Women Legislators and International Development Aid

Abstract

There is optimism that the growing number of women in political office will reorient the focus of international politics toward more social and humanitarian issues. One basis for this optimism is the argument that women legislators hold distinct foreign policy preferences and act on them to affect changes in policy. However, we know little about gender differences in the behavior of individual legislators on these issues. This study investigates the behavior of individual legislators of the United States, one of the most important actors in international politics, in the context of development aid. Analyzing a diverse set of legislative behaviors in the U.S. Congress, we find no evidence that women legislators behave any differently than men with regard to these issues. Beyond its contribution to our understanding of the making and future of American foreign policy, this study contributes to broader debates about women’s representation and foreign policy.

More Equality for Women Does Mean Less War: Descriptive Representation, Legislative Votes, and International Conflict

“…more left-leaning and less supportive of military actions than men legislators. 13 This might be due to biological differences (Fukuyama 1998) and socialization (e.g., education;Angevine 2017;Caprioli 2000;Stauffer et al 2022), but more likely due to the gendered nature of elections (Paxton, Kunovich, and Hughes 2007). Women legislators tend to rely on women voters (Bendix and Jeong 2020;Lloren 2015;MacDonald and O'Brien 2011), who are on average less supportive of military actions.…”