The impact of women on state legislative policy-making

Despite much work in the field of women in politics, we know little of the policy impact of women in legislative bodies. This dissertation explores the extent to which female state legislators contribute toward distinctive policies and the conditions under which such contributions are strongest. A three part methodology is used which includes mail surveys, interviews, and archival data from twelve states. Hypotheses are developed based on a marriage of both the normative and empirical research on gender differences. A model of pro-woman policies is created and tested, using as dependent variables, differences between gender and state in bill priorities, ratios of priority bills introduced to those passed, and ratios of bills introduced to those passed among selected issues. The primary independent variable is the percentage of women in the legislature. Additional independent variables include the number of women in leadership positions, the presence of a women\u27s caucus, the level of activity of women members, and women\u27s sensitivity to dual roles of women in society. The findings indicate that the primary independent variable, percentage of women in the legislature, does have an impact on pro-woman policies, as well as some activity measures, sensitivity of women to dual roles, and women in leadership positions. It is not, however, directly related to the presence of a women\u27s legislative caucus as several intervening variables play a strong role. The results are consistent with the theoretical foundations of the research which hypothesize gender differences in political attitudes and behavior based on cultural rather than biological sex differences