Women in the United States Congress and legislative outcomes: Does gender effect quantitative and qualitative variability in Federal law?

In the past decade women have made unprecedented electoral gains in the United States Congress. Although these gains are still far from matching full population representation, they mark a notable shift in the social configuration of the land\u27s highest lawmaking body. Remarkably, despite the influx of women in Congress, very little socio-legal research has focused on the impact these women have had on the lawmaking process. Drawing from Donald Black\u27s theory of the behavior of law, I test whether or not gender, as a stratifying element of social life, shapes legislative sponsorship, legislative passage, legislative style, and legislative theme. Relying on data from the 103rd and 104th Congresses of the United States, I find evidence that female legislators are less likely to advance the legislation they sponsor through Congress, are less likely to sponsor legislation backed by the threat of punitive sanction, and are more likely to sponsor legislation thematic to women. Additional multivariate analyses reveal that the significance and magnitude of the effect of gender on legislative outcomes is contingent upon the Congress of record.