Exploring Gender Differences in State Legislators’ Policy Preferences

Abstract

While a great deal of research documents women elected officials’ more liberal policy attitudes and concludes that increased women’s representation will produce more liberal policies, I argue that the influence of gender and ultimately the influence of women’s representation remain unclear. First, constituency demands may explain observed gender differences. Second, the influence of gender may vary among legislators. I find that although constituency interests do have a significant effect, women continue to express significantly more liberal welfare policy preferences than men. In addition, I find that gender differences in legislators’ preferences are greater among Republican and conservative legislators than among Democratic and liberal legislators. Consequently, predicting the impact of increasing women’s representation on policy is likely to be more complex than previously thought.